Two museums - a review

As a matter of journaling I am going to do a quick review of two museums here in Madrid. We went to these two museums within two days of each other.

In full disclosure I would like to point out that I am not a fan of renaissance art (to each their own). There is almost nothing I like about the paintings of that era. I know that I am in the minority here, as the Prado is the most famous museum in the city, I am just pointing out my tastes so that you might have an idea of how my tastes differ from yours. 

Spain has a LOT of Renaissance art. I have made two little games to amuse myself as I walk through the many galleries that hold this art. In the first game - I look for sheep, I like sheep, I am a textile artist. For the second game I look for the bared breast. For some reason even if it is a most "proper" painting there is always a servant around having a "wardrobe malfunction". It is still funny (to me) if I turn to my husband and whisper "my! It was it windy that day".

The first museum is within walking distance of us. Museo Lazaro Galdiano is a somewhat small out of the way museum that we only knew about because it is to be seen from the bus on the way downtown.

It has a sheep!

I like this museum a lot. There is something for everyone. The man, whom the museum was named after, collected everything. Limber your neck up before you go though, the museum is in what was his house (he is now deceased) and there are paintings on every ceiling. The molding work is spectacular too. The mansion itself is a work of art. For those of you wondering, why yes that are mostly renaissance style paintings. However, he personalized the paintings to the room and for his family (ie, reading room, music room, dressing room) so they are worth the neck crick.

That is my husband hiding behind the tree. I guess he wanted to be on the blog, I did warn him that I could see him.

There are very impressive collections, of books, jewelry, statues, and watches. Very nice furniture is scattered around the house. I found an fancy antique brass bobbin winder on the second floor that I covet, and they had a temporary textile exhibit. 

It was an exhibit on weaving and it was nice to see very old, very decorated fabric, but the best part was the video. I usually do not sit down and watch videos in museums, but I am glad I watched this one. Although it was in French with Spanish subtitles (a fact that gave me mental strain) it was fascinating. It was about a man in France that was dedicating his life to learning about traditional weaving so that he could carry on the tradition and teach others, which is a cause near and dear to my heart.

It is definitely worth the trip. It is probably 20 minutes by bus outside of the city center. The entrance fee was only €6.

There is this cool vertical garden growing on a wall right next to the Caxia Forum.

The second museum was the Caxia Forum. La Caxia is a Catalonian bank, in adherence to a law in Spain about giving back to the community if you make a certain amount of profit, they have at least two free Museums (the other one I know of is in Barcelona). Because it is free, it is a good museum to go to if you are unsure wether or not you like the artist/style. There is no permeant collection, so every few months there is two new exhibitions to see. 

It is a beautiful space with nice galleries and one of the best museum gift shops I have eve seen. It is also on the Paseo del Prado near and on the same side as, the Renia Sofia . Walk north from the Renia Sofía on the Paseo del Prado and look for the vertical garden, then the museum is the oxidized building on your left.

So there are my thoughts, for what they are worth.
Enjoy.