Entre las recientes donaciones de pinturas del siglo XIX al Museo del Prado, la de Hans Rudolf Gerstenmaier es singular no solo por su número, once obras, sino también por su concentración en el arte de los últimos años del siglo XIX y principios del XX, uno de los núcleos principales de sus amplias colecciones y la sección final de las del Prado.

Con esta donación, que se expone en la sala 60 del edificio Villanueva hasta el 12 de enero de 2020, se incorporan al Prado pintores como Hermen Anglada-Camarasa, Eduardo Chicharro, Ignacio Zuloaga y Joaquín Mir, que enriquecen el final de las colecciones de pintura española del Museo, donde ya están representados Sorolla y Beruete, sus estrictos contemporáneos.

Within the context of the Prado’s celebration of its Bicentenary, the Museum is presenting Velázquez, Rembrandt, Vermeer: Parallel visions, an ambitious exhibition devoted to Dutch and Spanish painting of the late 16th and early 17th centuries which benefits from the sponsorship of Fundación AXA and the special collaboration of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

Comprising 72 works from the Prado, the Rijksmuseum and a further 15 lenders (including the Mauritshuis in The Hague, the National Gallery in London and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York), the exhibition offers a reflection on the traditions of painting in Spain and the Low Countries. While the art-historical literature has considered these traditions to be essentially different, the exhibition juxtaposes the historical myths and artistic realities of these two artistic centres in order to reflect on their numerous shared traits.

The exhibition is curated by Alejandro Vergara, Chief Curator of Flemish Painting and the Northern Schools at the Museo del Prado. It is on display in Rooms A and B of the Jerónimos Building until 29 September.

Fra Angelico and the Rise of the Florentine Renaissance, an exhibition sponsored by the Fundación Amigos del Museo del Prado, analyses the artistic importance of the early Florentine Renaissance between approximately 1420 to 1430, with a particular focus on the figure of Fra Angelico, one of the great masters of this period.

The exhibition, which includes 82 works loaned by more than 40 institutions in Europe and America, centres on The Annunciation in the collection of the Museo del Prado, which is now presented in all its splendour following its recent restoration. Shown alongside it are The Virgin of the Pomegranate, which recently entered the Museum’s collection, and an extensive group of works by the artist and by other painters of this period such as Masaccio, Masolino and Filippo Lippi, as well as sculptors including Donatello and Ghiberti.

This exhibition project will recreate the original aspect of Room 39, known as Their Majesties’ Retiring Room. First opened in 1828, it was intended as a portrait gallery of the Bourbon Dynasty. The images on display were accompanied by still lifes, floral compositions and landscapes and by other paintings that depict events from the reigns of Charles III and Ferdinand VII. This installation will recreate the hanging of the paintings at different heights and will include some of the furnishings made for this space, including Ferdinand VII’s toilet.

La Cátedra del Prado invita a profesionales de reconocido prestigio a desarrollar, aportando sus valiosos conocimientos y experiencias, un proyecto propio relacionado estrechamente con las colecciones del Prado, los artistas en él representados o la historia misma del Museo. Consta de cuatro conferencias destinadas tanto a un público especializado como a un público general, y de cuatro seminarios en los que participa un escogido grupo de 20 becarios previamente seleccionados. Las conferencias de la Cátedra se recogen luego en una publicación editada por el Museo Nacional del Prado. La Cátedra del Prado está patrocinada por el Consejo General del Notariado y su titular en 2019 es el escritor Antonio Muñoz Molina.

Por primera vez y con motivo del Bicentenario, la Cátedra del Museo del Prado será una actividad gratuita para todos los asistentes.

The Execution of Torrijos and his Companions on the Beach at Málaga by Antonio Gisbert is the most outstanding picture of the last period of history painting in Spain. Besides its pictorial quality, it is also an intense political statement in defence of liberty. Through a restrained naturalism, it vindicates the nobility and dignity of the memory of the liberal politician José María Torrijos (1791-1831) and his companions of all social classes, who were shot without trial on the orders of Ferdinand VII. The picture, paid for by the Spanish State during the liberal government of Práxedes Mateo Sagasta, was painted for the Museo del Prado in 1888.

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.

The Museo del Prado presents the generous donation made in 2018 by the Ellacuria family, the descendants of the painter Cecilio Pla (1859–1934). It is made up of a large collection of letters, photographs and negatives, and some of his sketchbooks, together with a number of loose drawings and various other materials related to his career, such his diplomas and medals. This donation, of which only a small selection is on display, will enhance our knowledge of the work of this Valencian painter and the artistic and cultural panorama of his time.

Desde el 30 de octubre, en la sala 66 del edificio Villanueva, el visitante del Museo del Prado podrá disfrutar de La última comunión de san José de Calasanz, la pintura religiosa de Goya más evocadora que fue pintada el mismo año de la inauguración del Museo del Prado para la iglesia de San Antón del colegio de las Escuelas Pías de Madrid.

Este extraordinario préstamo, propiedad de la Orden de las Escuelas Pías de la provincia de Betania, se inscribe en el programa ‘La obra invitada’, una actividad patrocinada por la Fundación Amigos del Museo del Prado desde 2010 para enriquecer la visita al Museo y establecer un término de comparación que permita reflexionar sobre las propias pinturas del Prado.