He Prado Museum has organized, together with the National Classical Theater Companyitinerary ‘Calderón and painting’ in which he rediscovers his permanent collection of baroque painting from the conceptual and aesthetic “subtlety” of the writer.
‘Calderón y la pintura’, created by Albert Arribas and Xavier Albertí, covers 17 rooms of the Villanueva building, where works such as ‘Las Meninas’ by Velázquez, ‘Achilles discovered by Ulysses and Diomedes’ by Rubens, ‘Hercules fights against hydra’ by Lerna by Zurbarán, ‘Isaac and Jacob’ by Ribera or ‘San Jerónimo’ by Francisco de Herrera ‘el Viejo’.
The itinerary, according to both entities, consists of three exhibition levels that complement each other. One of them shows a selection of Calderonian quotes, hung on the walls, with which he proposes a dialogue between the lucidity of the writer and the language of the Baroque painters; the following includes a series of paintings, commented on in relation to Calderon’s theater, which allow us to explore some of the concerns of the writer and his time, both thematic and formal; and several texts contextualize the author’s thought in relation to painting.
In addition, in the context of the itinerary, six audiovisual pieces have been recorded, starring Lluís Homar and Beatriz Argüello among other performers, in which Calderón’s texts interact with a selection of paintings to appreciate thematic similarities and even pictorial influences. These pieces are projected daily, with a total duration of 30 minutes, in the conference room of the Jerónimos building until September 10.
For example, Beatriz Argüello plays Medea in ‘The Three Greatest Wonders’ along with ‘Judit at Holofernes’ Banquet’ by Rembrandt; Rafa Castejón plays Ludovico in ‘El purgatorio de san Patricio’ together with ‘El jardín de las delicias del Bosco’; Lluís Homar plays Fernando in ‘The Constant Prince’ together with Velázquez’s ‘San Antonio Abad y san Pablo, primer hermitaño’; Natalia Huarte plays Semiramis in ‘La hija del aire’ together with ‘Combate de mujeres’ by Ribera; Arturo Querejeta plays Aristobolus in ‘The World’s Greatest Monster’ together with Tintoretto’s ‘El rapto de Helena’; e, Isabel Rodes plays Circe in ‘The greatest charm, love’ together with ‘Rapto de Europa’ by Rubens.