José Aparicio's 'El año del hambre' returns to the Prado after restoration

The Museo del Prado has reinstalled José Aparicio's monumental painting 'El año del hambre en Madrid' (1818) in Room 66 of the Villanueva building, on view until September 13. The 315 x 437 cm canvas, once the museum's most celebrated work during the reign of Ferdinand VII, depicts the 1811–12 Madrid famine and was used as royalist propaganda. The exhibition, part of the new 'Una obra, una historia' series, traces the painting's rise and fall: it was the Prado's top attraction at its 1819 opening, eclipsing Goya and Madrazo, but was removed in 1872 after the annexation of the Museo de la Trinidad and later sent on deposit to the Ministry of Development in 1874. The show includes a digital reconstruction of the original 1819 gallery layout, done with the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, and a recent restoration by Lucía Martínez and Laura Alba. A catalogue with essays by María Bolaños, Bénédicte Savoy, Daniel Crespo, and curators Carlos G. Navarro and Celia Guilarte accompanies the display. Director Miguel Falomir stated the goal is to invite viewers to reflect on overlooked aspects of art history.