NO FOTOS!!!

I should not have even tried anyway to take a picture of Velasquez's Las Meninas, but I could not help myself. The beauty of the work jumped off the canvas and into my soul. Fortunately, the security guard let me off with a warning which I certainly took into consideration with every subsequent work I gazed upon. (P.S. He let me keep the photo) Such was the case, though, with nearly all of the paintings I saw today at Museo del Prado. Surreal beauty the likes of which I had never before taken the time to appreciate. The rich history of Art in general and Spanish Art in specific is astounding.

Every painting not only tells a story, whether it be religious, historical, or mythical, but it also lets you peek into the mind of the artist who made said story come to life. Today, I saw Saturn eating his kids to maintain his power. Undoubtedly a lesson in the extremes we would go to to secure our positions in the world. I saw the garden of earthly desire where all our vices are transient, ultimately meaning nothing in the afterlife. Life is fleeting do good while you can. I saw Jacob dreaming of God and Christ in all of his forms. Religion seems to be inexplicably tied to art. I saw a naked women who told me more about the beauty of the human form than I thought was possible from a simple painting. Side note, the women painted on the canvases were all said to be of exquisite beauty and they certainly were, however, their waistlines were large, their bodies had fat, and in the characterizations, they showed no shame over their appearance. Moreover, one of my last stops was at Goya's drowning dog, about to be enveloped in a monstrous wave. The painting was meant to demonstrate the fatality of life, but I took a different view. The way the art liberated me today made me feel as if I was that drowning dog, but I was saved by a life raft named the Prado.  

This trip to the museum enlightened me beyond belief. I stopped for lunch on the gran via on the way home and ate a filling meal of two carne empanadas withe cafe con leche. I watched the city come alive and received a smile from an older woman whom you could tell had so much love in her heart. The only fault I have found with Madrid is that I didn't find it sooner.