Return Journey. Art of the Americas in Spain, sponsored by Fundación AXA, recounts a little known phenomenon: the fact that following the conquest of Latin America and until its independence, more works of art arrived in Spain from that continent than from Flanders or Italy and that the movement of works was not one-directional, from Spain to Latin America, as is generally suggested. These thousands of objects, many of them created by indigenous or mestizo artists, often make use of materials, subjects and techniques unknown in Spain, while their creation reflects a range of intentions: reaffirmation of the dominance of the imperial power or the identitary aspirations of the Creole elites, as well as documentary, devotional and aesthetic reasons.

Leonardo and the copy of the Mona Lisa. New approaches to the artist’s studio practices is the first monographic exhibition in Spain to study the copies and versions made in Leonardo’s studio during his lifetime, works that were based on the master’s prototypes and authorised by him. On display at the Museo Nacional del Prado until 23 January in Room D of the Jerónimos Building, this event is benefiting from the collaboration of the City Council of Madrid.

The exhibition includes a significant group of works, most executed in Leonardo’s studio. Together with the graphic material and infrared reflectograms also on display, they help to illustrate the master’s ideas, how his pupils assimilated them and the practices employed by the latter in order to produce paintings.

Until 23 January 2022 in Room C of the Jerónimos Building and with the collaboration of the Comunidad de Madrid, the Museo Nacional del Prado is exhibiting three important narrative series produced for private clients in Andalusia in the mid-17th century: the two on the parable of the Prodigal Son and the Story of Joseph by Murillo and Antonio del Castillo, both of which have survived complete and are now in the National Gallery of Dublin and the Museo del Prado, respectively; and the series on the Life of Saint Ambrose by Juan de Valdés Leal.

33 works from the Museo Nacional del Prado, the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin and institutions such as the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, the Museo de Bellas Artes de Asturias, the Museo de Bellas Artes de Sevilla and the Biblioteca Nacional de España document the high levels of artistic merit achieved by the artists who cultivated this typology.

On the occasion of the fortieth anniversary of the Fundación Amigos del Museo del Prado, the exhibition is an appreciation and a celebration of the Friends that have given their support to the Museum. It will gather, for the first time in one single display, the works that the Fundación has donated to the Prado thanks to their generosity. The exhibition aims also to be illustrative and to encourage new donations.

The exhibition will include all the works that have been donated by the Fundación or with its contribution, with the exception of the three series of contemporary art, of which we will show a selection given the high number of works that they comprise. It will also include works donated to American Friends of the Prado Museum, which are at the institution on long-term loan.

Among the initiatives to celebrate the Museum’s Bicentenary, and with the title “Audiovisual memory of the Museo del Prado”, a new documentary archive brings together the audiovisual history of the Museum – its buildings and collections – for the first time through film, NODO news bulletins and television. This selection of audiovisual material, which will come to number more than 400 items over the course of 2019, offers a survey of more than 100 years of images of the Prado.

In collaboration with the Filmoteca and Radio Televisión Española (RTVE), the archive starts with 300 titles, including a previously unseen documentary entitled “Introduction to the Museo del Prado” (1985) by Basilio Martín Patino, the RTVE series “Looking at a painting” with contributions from figures such as Alberti, Cela and Umbral, and full-length cinema films with actors such as Rita Hayworth, Rex Harrison, Tony Leblanc, Aurora Bautista and Concha Velasco, directed by Ramón Masats, Antonio Mercero, Jacinto Molina, Orson Welles and George Marshall, among others.

Spoken history through the experience of the people who have devoted their day to day to the institution.

Thanks to the support of Telefónica as a Benefactor Sponsor of the Visitor Services and other Users improvement programme, the Museo del Prado is now the first Spanish museum and one of the few in the world to make its historical archive available online. By doing so it is leading the way in free access to information by making it possible to consult both its collection of works of art and the contents of its archive online.

This initiative offers nearly 12,000 digitalised documents, including: the Museum’s ground plan and elevation; the list of the paintings on display in the Sala Francesa in 1887; the appointment of Pablo Picasso as the Prado’s director in 1936; and the personal archives of the Madrazo family, of Valentín Carderera, one of the leading figures in the Spanish 19^th-century art world, and of Salvador Viniegra, deputy director of the Museum between 1890 and 1898.