PRADO MUSEUM,SPAIN

CURATORS : REBECCA, JOSEFA , ANGEL, LANCY, JORGE, EDGAR &

ASHLEY

ABOUT OUR GALLERY

The Prado Museum is centrally located in the city of Madrid and as one of the cities major attractions.

The museum is located at 23 Ruiz de Alarcon Madrid, Spain 28014.

This highly-acclaimed art museum has paintings & sculptures. It is one of the most visited attractions in Madrid, gaining the attention of lovers of great art from around the world with its

expansive collection of a variety of works but a new, recently opend wing has arrived.

Our theme is mythology mixed with a bit of religion. This new gallery will give the vistors a sense of beliefs that we all have but they vary depending on our religion & geographic location . We focused mainly on the traditional story of christ, heaven, angels, cupid & the belief that we must honor royal

people. No matter what we believe in we all believe in something which is the main point of this gallery The collection consists of 12 artworks from all over the world .

As you enter our grand room you will immediately notice the ceiling that is painted with sky bluesand astrological designs so that you feel as if you are entering into the sky. The room is

accented with hues of pink, reds and purple stars symbolizing our dreaming effect.

Our gallery is designed like a circle because we want the artwork to be visible without having to enter into different rooms & keeping the visitor traffic at a calm pace by starting to the left &

working their way around until they are ready to exit the grand room.

GALLERY OF MYTHOLOGY(GRAND ROOM)

ORESTES &PYLADES OR THE SAN ILDEFONSO GROUP

In this piece created by Pasiteles, Orestes & Pylades look to offer a sacrifice to the deity at their side. The sculpture was made of white marble and the shapes of the bodies were created by diagonal lines that have closed boundaries. Due to the direction of the lines the artwork implies motion. In the photograph of the sculpture, the light coming from the right of the photo causes the artwork to cast shadows which imply that the sculpture has mass and its three dimensional. The mass of the figure is what is considered to be a series of positive shapes. Those shapes are what is dominant and meant for us to see. The human like sculptures are what we would consider to be organic shapes as well because they are in the shape of humans. The spaces between the arms, legs and around the sculpture between the positive shapes. The texture of the piece is quite smooth although there is noticeable amount of weathering on the piece. The mythology of this piece is that some religions believe in sacrificing & divine punishment. In this pieceOrestes was freeing him from divine punishment. The Greek mythology is that he was the son of Clytemnestra & Agamemon. He is the subject of several various muths connected with his maddness & purification.

A BACCHIC SCENE

JACOB'S DREAMThis painting is a oil on canvas and was made in

1639 during the Baroque era. The story of Jacob's dream comes from the OLd Testament in the Holy Bible. In the painting Jacob is lying down sleeping

outside next to a tree. By the expression of his face we can tell he is dreaming. The story behind

the painting is that Ribera has painted the imaginary angels and descending ladder in the sky above Jacob the Shepard. This painting represents

realism as well a spirituality. There is n ot much light in the painting and there is a limited amount

of color used but it captures the essence of the mood with its dull hues. The mythology in this

piece is the fact that this story was written in the Holy Bible book of Genesis that Christians believe in the angels coming from the heavens with God

to let Jacob know that God & his angels will always be with the people & bless the earth.

DESCENT FROM THE CROSSIn this painting by Roger Van der Weyden, the body of Jesus Christ is being lowered down from the cross he was crucified on while family & followers gather around and mourn. Most of the lines if not all are diagonal. This indicates motion as the artist intended. The folds of the peoples' bodies and clothes show the motion. As you can see, Saint John's robe bulges forward as he is about to take a knee to catch Mary before she hits the ground. While looking at this painting you can literally visualize the motions of the group of people as Christ is carried down from the cross. The lines also help to identify the textures the artist creates. The lines along the cross, ladder and border of the painting allow the viewer to identify them as wooden. The positive shapes in this painting are the people, the cross and the border of the frame. The negative shapes are the spaces in between the positive shapes, background and floor. Although they are both positive shapes, the people are considered to be organic shapes because they are naturally made and the cross is considered to be inorganic. It seems as though the source of light is coming from the right of the painting as shadows fall on the left of each person. The different colors & value are abundant in this piece. None of the people in this painting are wearing the same color. the value of each color is determined by the amount of light that is exposed to that area in the painting. The use of overlapping and shadows gives this two dimensional painting a three dimensional feel. The mythology in this piece the crucifixion of Chirst that took place in the Holy Bible written in the New Testament. Christians believe he died for their sins but also it shows the passion from Virgin after seeing the suffering of her son as she falls to the ground.

JUDITH AT THE BANQUET OF HOLOFERNES

This painting is a oil on canvas and was created during the Baroque period in 1634. The portrait is of a woman in the spotlight dressed very eloquent and is wearing fine jewelry. A servant is kneeled down before her serving a drink& her face is subordinated ; while an elderly maid is in between them off in the distance in the dark, faded background. There is a dramatic difference in lightness and darkness. To the right and background its darkness but the light shifts to the woman & servant to show its importantness. The mythology this piece represents is the woman who is a female Goddess which is assocaited with earth,motherhood, love & household. Goddess can also rule over war, death &healing. In some religions a feminine Goddes is their belief and can occupy a very central place in prayer & worship.

TITYUS

THE EMPRESS SABINAIs a marble sculpture that measures 85.5 cm x 55 cm x 31cm. The portrait of Vibia Sabina, wife of Emperor Hadrian, was created around 130 A.D. The image is organic because it is of a huaman life form. Although her face is organic but very symmetrical representing her beauty. Her face looks stern and her hair is up with braids wrapped around it. She is wearing clothing that drapes over her bust. she is the definition is roman royalty. The mythology is that Roman was highly invovled with the Christianity life. Her toga or robe symbolize the emperor's religious & civil power. Her hairstyle is imagery of the Goddess of Diana which was a Roman Mythology associated with wild animals, woodland & having the power to talk to & control animals. Diana was worshipped in Ancient Roman religion & was known to be the virgin goddess of childbirth & women.

THE NUDE

In this painting by Diego Velazquez, a cupid is depicted holding up a mirror for naked woman while she looks at herself. I assume that the cupid is doing this in an effort to get the woman to realize her true beauty. The uses of the lines in this painting are very important. The lines that create the organic shapes of the cupid and the woman are smooth and curvy and allow us to see the youthfulness and beauty of the two creatures. The scattered lines throughout the bed sheets and the curtain indicate that they are wrinkled while the lines on the cupid's wings indicate that they are feathered. The smooth and scattered lines are what create the texture of the organic shapes and the objects around them. The room is well lit with light seeming to come from the left of the painting. This allows for different ranges of values of the colors in the painting. The colors are lighter toward the left of the painting (where the source of light is) and gradually the values become darker as they move further to the right. The black areas indicate shadows where no light touches. The mythology is that cupid is the god of desire, love, attraction & affection. The myth is the fact he is the son of the goddess Venus & he holds the power to fill uncontrolable desires and in this piece the woman is attracted by her beauty and body.

ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDSThis painting is a religious piece created by El Greco during the early 1600s. You can really see the unity in this piece because they are all surrounding something; there aren't any major gaps between them. Balance is asymmetrical in this painting because once spilt down the middle you would not get two very equal halves although they are very close they are identical. There is a major emphasis in this painting which is their attention to the baby in almost the center of the painting. They are all in awe with what they see almost worshipping the child. For the most part everything looks proportioned & normal. When admiring this piece you can't really see a rhythm but considering how alike they all look I would see that as repetition. The hues are bright & warm but the light is directed on the baby in the center of the crowd with the darkness in the backgroung. The mythology in this piece is that the baby is being resurrected which means Chirst's rising from the dead. Also because the Christian Shepherds believed in Chirst ressurrection they will have everlasting life in heaven.

THE CONTEST OF DIANA'S NYMPHS

VENUS & ADONISThe painting is a mythological theme created by Palo Veronese during the late 1500s. When you look at this piece you can see unity when it comes to the animals, Venus, Adonis & cupid. They are all together as a whole & in contact with each other. This piece is asymmetrically balanced because there is no center to it; its unbalanced in the sense that there aren't two perfect sides to the image. When it comes to emphasis & subordination, I would say that this piece has a more subordinated look you can barely see the mans face. Venus & Adonis look like giants compared to their surroundings almost as if they were not normal. The hues are bright, warm & the bodies are pale with light directed on them from the left. The mythology is that Venus child cupid has powers to console Venus heart over the death of Adonis; her beloved man because the cupid is the god of love. Christians believe God sends his angels (cupid) to protect them.

CRUCIFIXION" Crucifixion" is a religious theme specifically from the New Testament created by Juan de Flandes during the early 1500s. There doesn't seem to be a sense of unity in this piece there is variety instead, the people in the image are together but don't show togetherness. They are all amongst each other but not in a familiar way almost as strangers all witnessing the crucifixion of chirst. If a line was drawn down the center of this composition both pieces would be different although very similar. There is a major empasis on the cross because of the major tragedy occurring in this image. Everything in the image overall looks the way it should in terms of size nothing is over exaggerated. The mythology in this piece is the fact the Christians believe christ die for their sins. Christians study the word of the Holy Bible,they believe in all the stories that place in the Bible & Jesus Christ.

Gallery Layout

Entrance

JUSTIFICATION OF LAYOUT

We arranged our selection in one grand room so everything would be visible without having to enter different rooms to view each artwork. Oresles and Pylades, was placed at the

center of the room to immediately capture incoming viewers attention and draw them into the gallery starting to the left and working their way around in a circular motion.

The selection is not arranged in any order, rather we wanted them to be random. We did this so each piece of

artwork would be different in style and region to the observer. Our goal was to give the observer a distinct experience as they make their way around the room

analyzing the mthyology of each artwork