Paintings like the Second of May 1808 and the Third of May 1808 depicting the resistance of the Spanish people to the French invasion under Napoleon and his brother Joseph were stunning to see in person. Finally we saw the work of Goya and again the background details of the paintings and the life of the court of Charles IV that Joy provided were invaluable. Such beautiful paintings and such interesting stories to go with them. The third section was the work of Diego Velazquez, friend of Philip IV his patron and the highlights were Las Meninas and The Surrender at Breda. And in contrast to artists of our day who are only rewarded for criticizing their own societies, El Greco ran the real risk of loss of livelihood and even pain and death. Joy explained to us that El Greco's depiction of the Crucifixion and the martyrdom of the saints usually included a Spanish soldier or noble with the clear implication that they too were instruments of cruelty and evil in the world. Interesting that even in that early time a painter like El Greco would dare to insert into his paintings subtle and not-so-subtle criticisms of the society in which he lived, the government of Spain and even the King he served. The work of El Greco is completely different but also very compelling. Absolutely mind-blowing and Joy gave us such an interesting discussion of the painting, the painter and all of Philip II's collection. The highlight for us of the first part was the art of Hieronymus Bosch, particularly The Last Judgement. The tour in four parts: the art collection of Philip II which was mostly created by artists not from Spain but included the greatest artist living in the latter half of the 16th century El Greco Velazquez and finally Goya. The Prado has an almost infinite wealth of great art works but Joy had carefully planned a sampling of the greatest art on the planet. We met at the Prado art museum and Joy had everything arranged so there was no delay getting in. We had a fantastic day with Joy, our guide from Devour Madrid.
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