An Artsy Fartsy Day

Friday, November 14, 2025

Meninas by Antonio Azzato

Today is Art Day. We are going to art museums, which means that there won’t be many photos because the museums generally don’t allow photos.

We had timed-entry tickets for the Prado as soon as they opened. When we first arrived it was great because it was not very crowded.  By the time we left, we were glad to be leaving the crowds behind, including a class of 5- or 6-year olds.6

We got audio guides which allowed us to choose a 1-hour tour, 2-hour tour, or two longer tours. We chose the two-hour, and that was just right. I feel that we “saw” less than 10% of what was on display in this huge museum. By “saw” I mean that we listened to information about specific works of art - mostly paintings, but also some drawings and sculptures. It was a lot to take in, but we saw the highlights. And we couldn’t help but notice hundreds of other pieces of art that were not part of the two-hour tour.

The Prado contains works by all the great Spanish artists, as well as many other European artists. It might be the best collection of paintings anywhere. Most of the art is from the mid 15th century through the early 20th century.

I am only going to talk about one painting: Las Meninas (The Ladies-in-Waiting) painted circa 1656 by Diego Velazquez. It is considered one of the most important paintings in the history of Western art, and it has been widely analyzed. It is notable for being one of the earliest examples of realism and has been compared to a snapshot. Meninas have become a Madrid icon.

Las Meninas is fun to look at. There is a lot going on in the scene. The Princess Margarita (the Infanta), about 5 years old, stands in the center. She is being tended to by two nannies (the meninas). To the Infanta’s left are two dwarfs and a large dog.

 There is a lot going on in the background. Two chaperones watch the infanta on one side. On the other side, we see Velazque himself, engaged in painting, and looking towards us.Behind him, the king and queen are reflected in a mirror, but they do not otherwise appear in this painting. Is Velazquez painting the king and queen? In a doorway we can see a man looking into the room. Many questions have been raised about what is shown and what the artist is telling us. It is fascinating to read a few of the many commentaries that have been written about this picture.

Public domain image from Prado website

In the afternoon we went to the Reina Sofía to see Picasso’s most famous piece, “Guernica,” along with other pieces of modern art in the Reina Sofía’s collection. In one of the rooms on the way to “Guernica,” we saw posters providing some context for the lead-up to the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), a clash between the democratically elected pro-Republic government and the fascist general Francisco Franco. Franco won and ruled Spain with an iron fist for 36 years.

Translation: Small man asks for big gifts

Guernica was a Basque town in northern Spain. In April of 1937, Franco gave permission to Adolf Hitler to use the town to try out a new method of warfare - saturation bombing. The town was leveled - a degree of destruction unimaginable at the time. Word of the bombing reached Picasso, who was in Paris at the time.He had just begun work on a painting commissioned by Spain’s Republican government for Spain’s pavilion in the 1937 Paris International Exposition, but he started sketching scenes he imagined of the bombing. Soon the mural was done and the the destructive power and cold indifference of fascism were seen by thousands of people attending the Exposition. Picasso’s anti-war painting was a sensation.

“Fair use” image from Wikipedia

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In the evening we went to a flamenco show at Cardomomo. It was wonderful. It is very emotional and intense. The music is provided by a guitarist, a man playing percussion on a wooden box, and two men who clapped their hands and sang. There were two female dancers and a male dancer, all very good. Here is a 27-second clip, followed by a 33-second clip of a different dancer.

After the flamenco show we didn’t feel like dinner, but we did stop to get churros and hot chocolate. The hot chocolate is as thick as pudding. You can dip the churros in it. Yum!

Today’s fabric is “French Terry Meninas” by La Catedral del Tejido. French terry is a versatile fabric with soft loops on the inside and a smooth surface on the outside.

Shabbat Shalom!