PASSION AND PRIDE AT THE PRADO: Spain's Seven Most Famous Historical Romantic Stories & the Artists Who Immortalised Them

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Discover and appreciate the story behind paintings such as Queen Isabel the Catholic Dictating her Will, or the sad misadventure of Doña Juana La Loca (Queen Juana the Mad), who ends her days as Queen Juana la Loca, Secluded in Tordesillas with her Daughter, Infanta Doña Catalina.

And then there is also the cruel story behind Prince Don Carlos of Viana, and then the catastrophic saga behind the Conversion of the Duke of Gandia.

You will not want to miss the dramatic tale of The Lovers of Teruel, nor miss the heroic yet fatal story behind the Execution of Torrijos and his Companions on the Beach at Málaga.

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CLOTILDE is a heart-warming story - about a woman who was driven by her unwavering love and devotion to her husband, the now legendary 19th and early 20th century master of light, the Valencian artist, Joaquín Sorolla.

MONASTERY OFFERS A VAST ARRAY OF ARCHITECTURAL WONDERS

The royal monastery of Sant Jeroni de Cotalba sits proudly on a small hill outside Gandia, in the district of Alfauir (Valencia). It is surrounded by nature, orange groves, hiking trails and picnic areas. Today it is a private estate open to the public at weekends, but over the last 600 years it has been a very special place for kings, queens, nobles and the Hieronymite order. Let's take a look....

* Report by art historian and educator , Karla Darocas, Hons. B.A. (KarlaDarocas.com)

* Copyright Karla Darocas 2018* (no part of this text or photographs may be reproduced)

IRONY IS IN THE WASH

In this 1871 painting by Seville artist José Jiménez Aranda, a group of women are working on their laundry.

The folksy characters of the washerwomen still conform to the Romantic trend of reporting on the lives of ordinary hard-working citizens, but the narrative now demands more insight into the psychology of the characters and the irony of the situation.

** Report by Karla Ingleton Darocas (KarlaDarocas.com)

ART SAVES SPANISH TOWN AND SURPRISES THE WORLD!

Looking for an inspiring story? How about the unique concept of an "open-air" art gallery that transformed a deprived village of 323 inhabitants in the Spanish province of Castellón, and is now part of a worldwide circuit of street art exhibitions?

Report by Karla Darocas, Hons. B. A. (KarlaDarocas.com) for SpainLifestyle.com

THE MYSTERY OF EL GRECO'S PAINTING OF SAINT SEBASTIAN

In his illustrious career, El Greco painted Saint Sebastian three times. The last of his three portraits from 1610 to 1614 found its way into the Prado Museum - but in two parts. Why?

Report by Karla Darocas, Hons. B. A. (KarlaDarocas.com) for SpainLifestyle.com

EL GRECO'S TINY TRIBUTE TO THE FATHER OF THE SACRED FAMILY

Why is El Greco's painting, the Flight into Egypt, c. 1570, so special? It is only a small oil painting on a prepared pine panel. It is mainly a landscape depiction with the Holy Family as figures in it. It shows El Greco's newly acquired knowledge of the Venetian style of painting, which was popular at the time due to the great Venetian master Titian.

* Report by Karla Ingleton Darocas, Hons. B.A. (KarlaDarocas.com)

A TRIBUTE TO A VICTORIOUS VALENCIANO - José de Ribera (1591-1652)

When I lived in Xàtiva in 2001, the town where my husband was born, I walked past the statue of José de Ribera every day. Our flat was on the same street as the basilica and the old hospital where my husband was born, and at the other end was the statue of José de Ribera, or Jusepe, as he is called in the Valencian language. 

José de Ribera was born in Xàtiva in 1591. His father was Simón Ribera, a shoemaker by trade, and his mother was Margarita Cucó. Although there are many documentary and bibliographical sources describing many aspects of Ribera's life and work, there is nothing about his childhood and youth in Xàtiva.

Report by Karla Ingleton Darocas (KarlaDarocas.com) (c) SpainLifestyle.com

FAMOUS ANCIENT VALENCIANOS - Peter Paschal

Painting by Valencian Master * Jerónimo Jacinto de Espinosa 

Peter Paschal was born in Valencia on the east coast of Spain in 1227. Peter's parents were devout Mozarabites (Iberian Christians) who lived under Muslim rule and paid an annual tax called the jizyah. The Mozarabites and the Muslim Arabs lived side by side and even spoke a similar language, Mozarabic. Let us learn more about this interesting historical era. 

Report by Karla Ingleton Darocas (KarlaDarocas.com) (c) SpainLifestyle.com

A GENUINE MIRACLE OF NATURE * La Mujer Barbuda by Jusepe de Ribera

Since returning from our fabulous four-day SpainLifestyle Baroque & Renaissance Road Trip, many of my friends and colleagues have asked me what the highlight of the trip was?

While there were many personal highlights, from an artistic and academic perspective, I think it was the painting La Mujer Barbuda by Jusepe de Ribera at the Prado Museum in Madrid, which I finally got to see up close. It had recently been transferred to the Prado from the Museo Fundación Lerma in the Hospital de Tavera in Toledo.

Report by Karla Ingleton Darocas, Hons.B.A. for SpainLifestyle.com