The Museo del Prado is presenting a new focus on its permanent collection through a specially devised thematic itinerary of works that encourages a reflection on the historical reality of same-sex relationships and non-normative sexual identities.

The richness and diversity of the Prado’s collections allow for this new approach, which makes use of art-historical theory to analyse the most profound meaning of this selection of 30 works. Among them are iconic images such as Orestes and Pylades by the School of Praxiteles and David with the Head of Goliath by Caravaggio, as well as little-known works such as El Cid by Rosa Bonheur and El Maricón de la Tía Gila by Goya. The itinerary is structured into six different thematic routes based around various core displays and has the overall title of The Other’s Gaze. Spaces of difference.

The project is organised in conjunction with the celebration of World Pride Madrid 2017 and is accompanied by a publication sponsored by the Region of Madrid.

Through September 10, the Museo del Prado will, in galleries A, B and C of the Jerónimos building, house the treasures of the museum and library of the Hispanic Society, an institution located in Upper Manhattan in New York, founded in 1904 by Archer Milton Huntington (1870-1955), one of America’s greatest philanthropists. He created an institution that reflected an appreciation of Spanish culture and the study of the literature and art of Spain, Portugal and Latin America.

“Treasures of Hispanic Society of America. Visions of the Hispanic World” brings together more than two hundred works of art including paintings, drawings, and sculpture; archaeological artifacts and decorative arts, liturgical vestments, furniture and manuscripts from the library, creating a fascinating chronological and thematic experience of the highlights of their vast collections.

On display until September, the Museo del Prado and the Fundación Amigos del Museo del Prado are presenting the last work by the Iranian artist Farideh Lashai (Rasht, 1944 – Teheran, 2013), When I count, there are only you…but when I look, there is only a shadow (2012-13), a video installation inspired by Goya’s Disasters of War. Farideh removed the figures and modified the images in this iconic print series in order to present them accompanied by animated images which are projected onto them from a moving spotlight.

This presentation offers a unique occasion to see Lashai’s work located alongside the prints by Goya that inspired them and between his Black Paintings and The 3rd of May. The result is a dialogue that reveals the ongoing relevance of Goya’s message two centuries later.

The Museo del Prado is presenting the Portrait of Manuela Isidra Téllez-Girón, future Duchess of Abrantes, painted in 1797 by Augustín Esteve y Marqués and recently acquired for the Museum with funds from the Óscar Alzaga Villaamil donation. The portrait is considered Esteve’s finest work in this genre as well as one of the most striking depictions of children in 18th-century Spanish art. It will be displayed alongside other portraits of the 9th Duke of Osuna, the Duchess and their children painted by this Valencian artist.

The challenge of white, which brings together some of Esteve’s most important works from the Museo del Prado’s holdings and from various private collections, also includes the remarkable portraits that Francisco de Goya produced of the same members of the Osuna family. The exhibition remains on display until 1 October in Rooms 37 and 38 of the Villanueva Building.

The Museo del Prado, with the collaboration of Fundación Iberdrola España, a Benefactor of the Museum’s Restoration Programme, has restored the monumental bronze head from its permanent collection and has identified the subject as Demetrius I, a Hellenistic general and king.

The sculpture is one of only a very few known surviving Hellenistic bronzes, dating from around 307 BC and an exceptional example due to its size and quality. It is now on display for the first time since its recent restoration.

Their Majesties the King and Queen of Spain, don Felipe and doña Letizia, headed a meeting of the National Committee for the celebration of the Bicentenary of the Museo Nacional del Prado. During the course of this meeting the special programme of activities devised to celebrate the principal moments in the Museum’s history was approved.

The events within this programme will aim to promote a reflection on the Museum’s past and present as well as looking ahead to its future through specific initiatives, among them the new architectural project for the Hall of Realms designed by Norman Foster, which will complete the so-called “Prado Campus”.