Jane's adventures
This blog is about my travels. At home in New Zealand, in other parts of Oceania, North, Central and South America and in Europe.
The Prado museum is one of the most amazing art galleries in Europe. It is stuffed full of masterpieces. Most of these were donated from the collection of the Spanish royal family. Some of my favourites were the artworks of Hieronymus Bosch, a mysterious 15th century dutch painter. His religious paintings of heaven and hell are some of the most wildly imaginative scenes in art history (unfortunately I wasn't able to take a photo of this, but if you're interested, have a google). One of my other favourite painters is Francisco Goya. The Prado is full of paintings by this great Spanish artist. Some of his best paintings (in my opinion) are from his 'black period'. These are his 'grumpy old man' paintings, which contain some absolute masterpieces. Stricken with deafness, old, cast out from the Spanish court (previous deliberately unflattering royal portraits probably didn't help), and upset about ongoing war, Goya retreated to his country villa, painted the walls black, and set out on a series of paintings on the dark side of the human condition, ranging from human follies like vanity to war and cannibalism. He also painted these in his ground breaking expressive style. Occasionally he wasn't so grumpy though. His paintings at the time do seem to cheer up when he beautifully painted women, a favourite subject for him!
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I am a traveller from New Zealand. My blog is to inform friends and family about my adventures. I hope you enjoy it! Archives
August 2020
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