Synopsis
Magnificent masterpieces tell the story of Spain and of an entire continent.
We are in one of the temples of world art, a site of memory and a mirror to the present with 1700 works exhibited and a further 7000 art treasures preserved there. Its collection tells the story of kings, queens, dynasties, wars, defeats and victories, as well as the story of the feelings and emotions of the men and women of yesteryear and of today, whose lives are intertwined with the museum’s: rulers, painters, artists, architects, collectors, curators, intellectuals, visitors.
In 2019, the year of its 200th Anniversary celebrations, telling the story of the Prado in Madrid from the day it was "founded" – that 19th November 1819 when mention was first made of the Museo Real de Pinturas - means covering not only the last 200 years, but at least six centuries of history. The life of the Prado collection began with the birth of Spain as a nation and the marriage between Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabel of Castile, a union that marked the start of the great Spanish Empire. Yet, for a long time over the centuries, painting had been a universal language that knew no boundaries. If there is one museum where it is clear that painting was not affected by nationalism, then that museum must surely be the Prado, with its eclectic and multifaceted collections demonstrating that art has no passports limiting its circulation, that rather it is a universal means to understand and convey the thoughts and feelings of human beings.
For this reason, taking the leading role in THE PRADO MUSEUM. A COLLECTION OF WONDERS are its art masterpieces and the great artists who made them, the crowned heads who collected them, but also the European and libertarian inspiration behind a museum and its wealth of art treasures and stories. This is the common thread that runs through the new documentary film created by Didi Gnocchi, written by Sabina Fedeli and Valeria Parisi and directed by Valeria Parisi, a 3D Produzioni and Nexo Digital production in collaboration with the Prado Museum, with the support of the Intesa Sanpaolo Bank Group. Furthermore, there is an extra-special feature: Oscar® winning actor Jeremy Irons (Reversal of Fortune, Damage, The Mission, Stealing Beauty, The House of the Spirits, The Correspondence...) will be guiding spectators on a discovery of a heritage of beauty and art. Starting from the Salon de Reinos, in a deliberately bare architectural style that comes alive with people, lights and projections, taking the visitor back to the glorious past of the Spanish monarchy and the Siglo de Oro, when hanging from the walls then were many of the masterpieces exhibited today at the Prado. The aim of the authors, consequently, was to tell the story not only of the formal beauty and enchanting appeal of the Prado collection but also about how much the themes of the works exhibited are current today, and how through the history of art, they can also be a narrative of society.