Prado Bicentennial: Velázquez, Rembrandt, Vermeer United in Madrid

The Museo del Prado in Madrid is marking its bicentennial with two major summer exhibitions, including 'Velázquez, Rembrandt, Vermeer: Miradas afines', which brings together around 70 masterpieces from around the world to explore unexpected affinities between Spanish and Dutch Golden Age painting. Curated by Alejandro Vergara, the show challenges nationalist art historiography by juxtaposing works by artists who often had no personal or cultural connection, such as Velázquez and Vermeer. The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam has lent 17 works, including three of the finest Rembrandts and Vermeer's 'The Little Street'. Highlights include pairings like Hendrick ter Brugghen's and José de Ribera's 'Democritus', Velázquez's 'Mars' with Rembrandt's 'Woman Bathing in a Stream', and the striking similarity between Vermeer's 'The Little Street' and Velázquez's 'View of the Garden of the Villa Medici in Rome'. The exhibition runs until September 29, 2019, and also features seven Rembrandts and two Vermeers, including 'The Geographer' from the Städel Museum. The show aims to reveal a shared cultural language and aesthetic ideals across national boundaries, emphasizing commonalities in dress, pose, realism, still life, and loose brushwork.