Museo del Prado sketchbook drawings 2023

In April 2023 my friends and I visited Madrid to see our friend Claire. The number one thing I wanted to do in Madrid (apart from see Claire 💋) was visit the Museo del Prado, which houses many famous paintings that I love.

My favourite thing to do in art galleries is draw famous paintings that interest me in my sketchbook. What started as an exercise on college trips abroad has become a lasting hobby. 

My quick interpretations feel like a souvenir of my time spent in front of the painting. And in many ways it helps me remember the painting better, putting to paper what caught my eye. 

You can usually take a photo of art with your phone but are you ever going to look at it again? I highly recommend doodling your own interpretation, no matter your level of drawing skill! I'm not doing master studies here lol. Even from the smallest sketch I feel like I learn something about an artwork.

I’ll feature the paintings I saw at the Prado, the drawings I made of them + some commentary.

Black Paintings by Francisco de Goya

Our first stop was Franciso de Goya’s Black Paintings. These are 14 paintings that Goya painted on the walls of his house in the last ten years of his life, as his physical and mental health declined. Never intended to be seen by the public, the paintings are bleak and disturbing. 

Witches’ Sabbath

A huge detailed composition so I just drew the most prominent elements eg. Satan as a Goat sitting in front of the witches. I love goats and their rectangle pupils! The girl on the far right is about to be initiated into the coven, I wanted to capture her timid expression.

The Fates

I’d not heard of this piece before but one of The Fates holding what looks like a clay figurine of a person gave me chills. 

It’s very this 👇

The Dog

Often named one of the saddest paintings in art history. Goya never titled his Black Paintings so the titles were assigned after his death. Some other titles for this painting are The Drowning Dog and The Buried Dog.

I don’t think I captured the heaviness in my quick sketch, but it was important to me to record the light in the dog’s eye.

Saturn Devouring His Son

I was looking forward to seeing this iconic painting in person. But as I was drawing it, and maybe it was because my drawing was coming out a bit silly, I kind of felt….am I just drawing this for the sake of it? I wasn’t as moved by this one. And if a painting doesn’t interest you, you don’t have to force yourself to look at it for ages. Better to move on and find one you like. So I did. 

A much better interpretation of this piece is Brian Cox aka Logan Roy’s selfie in front of it

The Third of May 1808

Goya’s range in subject matter over his lifetime is fascinating. He was a royal court painter but the wars he witnessed affected him deeply. We saw the powerful anti-war painting he made, The Third of May 1808. 

Seeing this painting a year later while writing up this post, it’s all too similar to the images coming out of Gaza.

The Triumph of Death
Pieter Brueghel the Elder (1562-63)

It’s a painting full of horrific scenes, but…..animated skeletons are kind of goofy in the current culture*….so they looked kind of goofy to me? For that reason I drew a skeleton in the bottom-right corner wearing a person’s smiling face flesh.

*How I imagine the skeletons are moving in this painting👇

The Garden of Earthly Delights

Hieronymous Bosch (1503 - 1515)

Seeing this triptych in person will go down as one of the most special moments of my life. I was not prepared. And I had previously watched a documentary on this artwork that spooked me so much I had to take a break and return weeks later to finish it. 

So I went in with some knowledge. But my god. I was not spooked I was in ABSOLUTE AWE!!!!!! The sheer size of it. The colours. Every digital and printed rendition you see of this artwork pales in comparison the real thing.

There was a massive crowd in front of it and in that moment I was so thankful photos weren’t allowed because if people trying to get a good photo...that would have been so annoying… Everyone was just standing and looking at it for ages. I think I stood there for 30 minutes. Being in that crowd was a thrill, we were all just taking it in for as long as possible. 

I rapidly drew some of my favourite parts

Adoration of The Magi

Hieronymous Bosch (1485 - 1500)

I saw this triptych previously in the same documentary on Bosch on youtube. The critic pointed out Joseph sitting on his own far away from the rest of the scene, and labelled him a “cuck”.

Because this is getting long here are two paintings of royal children.

Prince Balthasar Carlos on Horseback

Diego Velázquez (1634 - 35)

Infanta Margarita Teresa in a Pink Dress
Martínez del Mazo (1665) 

Last but not least, and maybe my personal favourite of all the paintings…

Cats Fighting

Francisco de Goya (1786)

This part of a tapestry was in such an unassuming corridor on the top floor of the museum, we would have never come across it without prior research!

Love these spicy gatos, their faces are so funny.

Photos are prohibited in the Prado, but I’m so thankful Sarah sneakily took a pic of me drawing these guys :)

After our visit we all went and had €5 margaritas. I love Madrid!!!

The Prado museum was fantastic and I already can’t wait to return to see more of the collection. Some day I’d like to take more time drawing the artworks I really love.

Thanks for reading my first blog post! I look forward to sharing more :)

Liadh 🌷