Quiet Saturday morning in Madrid

 

The morning is quiet from where we are staying. (It's the door right next to the Hotel Mexico.)

 Last night, we walked up the street to our lodging and saw a large, lively party across the street. But we heard nothing once we were inside. The place is nice and quiet, except for workmen doing projects in the afternoon in a neighboring apartment.

Our big event yesterday was going through the Prado, floor by floor. Of course, we saw many beautiful artworks.

Interesting to see the the ful Garden of Earthly delights triptych. Evidently, Phillip II was deeply moved by the religious message of Hieronymus Bosch (1450-1516), and so collected several pieces by the Dutch painter. (Interesting to think about the less obvious meanings of Bosch's work. It's been conjectured that the work contains strong nationalist content, and that Bosch's work expresses some desire for expiation because he was accepting large commissions from the Hapsburgs, betraying the memory of Charles the Bold, the Duke of Burgundy.

The unmistakable focus was the monarchy and its its preferences and priorities. So hundreds of works that functioned as Counterreformation efforts against the growing Protestant tide. Likewise, grand paintings that celebrated victories over the rebellious Dutch. There is something very sad about that. On different levels. Of course, the hundred of thousands of lives lost as the Spanish Crown defended what it saw as the one true Church against heretics. But those Spanish monarchs themselves are tragic in their  stubborn clinging.

I think of Canute. He knew he could not stop the tide. The Spanish monarchs were less wise. They could not stop the Reformation, no matter how much gold they borrowed or stole. Their futile efforts in the end may have been most costly to their own realm.

Today we will explore a more modern museum, that of Reina Sophia. We also have a couple of grand parks to explore this morning. In the afternoon and evening, we hope to amble around the neighborhood called La Latina.