Reflections of the Cosmos in the Museo del Prado

With the support of American Friends of the Prado Museum. Thanks to the generosity of The Arthur and Holly Magill Foundation, from today until 16 October the Museo Nacional del Prado will offer a fresh perspective on its permanent collection in the form of a itinerary designed by Dr Montserrat Villar, an astrophysicist with the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), that shows how our perception and knowledge of the cosmos changed as scientific advances were made, and how those breakthroughs were visually reflected in the art of the past.

This new approach, made possible by the diversity and depth of the Prado’s collections and rooted in astrophysics, draws our attention to themes and subjects that often go unnoticed in twenty selected works by major artists like Patinir, Rubens, Murillo, Zurbarán and Tiepolo. The itinerary is accompanied by a publication and audio guides in Spanish and English.

Take a journey through the ages to discover how art and science intertwine and enrich each other in a profound and wonderful exchange of perspectives.

The Museo del Prado’s itineraries invite visitors to see the museum in a different light by enlisting the aid of professionals not affiliated with the institution or the fields we tend to associate with it. The idea is to offer a novel and unusual but well-grounded vision of our collections, one that highlights themes and subjects which tend to go unnoticed.

All cultures have succumbed to the fascination of the cosmos and the urge to interpret its signs, understand and predict it, for a variety of reasons. This itinerary proposes a novel approach to selected works from the permanent collection of the Museo Nacional del Prado which reflect the fascination with the cosmos that humans have felt for thousands of years and the evolution of our perception of the universe and our place in it.