Learning About Art and Life at The Prado in Madrid | Part 2 – Life Lessons at The Prado
Posts on this site may have affiliate links. If you make a purchase using an affiliate link I earn a small commission at no extra cost to yourself. Thanks for your support.
In the first part of this post I talked about taking a private tour of the Prado Museum in Madrid. The tour was a great way to learn a little bit about the art at The Prado, but I’ll be honest visual art will probably never excite me the same way music or live theatre does. That’s okay. I still loved the tour I took, and I learned a lot. After, while wandering through the museum on my own, I began to think about the different life lessons one could learn from the art and the artists at The Prado.

Life Lesson at The Prado – Be a Better Version of Yourself
At The Prado Museum, there is a self-portrait by German Painter Albrecht Dürer. To me, it didn’t seem like anything special, but on my tour, I learned that Dürer did something different with his self-portrait. Instead of painting himself as he was (a poor struggling artist) he put on some fancy robes and portrayed himself in the same way as a king or other member of nobility would.
What I learned – be a better version of yourself. Sure maybe pretending you’re a king isn’t the most realistic thing to do, but I believe there is merit in thinking ahead to who you want to be and what you want to do and acting that way now. For example, if you’d like to travel, but haven’t you need to stop thinking “I can’t travel. I’m not a traveller.” You need to change your mindset and behaviour to “I can travel. I am a traveller.”
Life Lesson at The Prado – There’s Nothing Wrong With Studying The Greats
I’m sure we’ve all heard The Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci, which is currently in The Louvre in Paris. Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa is not at The Prado Museum in Madrid, but do you know what is? Another Mona Lisa. Yes, there is another Mona Lisa at The Prado, which scholars believe was painted by a pupil of Da Vinci’s around the same time as the one in Paris. Years ago I was in Paris at The Louvre, and I got to see The Mona Lisa, but it was so busy and crowded I didn’t have the time to appreciate this famous work of art. The Mona Lisa at The Prado had no one around it so I could take the time to really look at it, and that was pretty cool.
What I Learned – there’s nothing wrong with studying the greats and emulating them. I don’t want people to misconstrue this advice as “just copy someone else’s work and claim it as your own.” That’s not cool, but if you want to do something, whether it’s painting or travelling or starting a business then studying someone who’s had success in that field. Emulate their work until you find your own way.
Life Lesson at The Prado – Try a Different Perspective
There is a painting at The Prado Museum called El Lavatorio (The Washing) by Italian painter Tintoretto. Like a lot of paintings from back in the day it depicts a religious scene from The Gospel of John, and once hung at the church of San Marcuola in Venice, Italy. What is interesting about El Lavatorio is that when you look at it straight on, it seems a little weird. The perspective of the scene is just a bit off, and Jesus (who is usually centrally placed in most religious paintings) is on the side. This painting hung at the ride side of the altar in the church, so Tintoretto painted this work to be viewed from the side, not from straight on like most paintings are. If you move to the left and look at this work at an angle, it makes more sense.
What I Learned – it is essential to change your perspective. If you are doing something that isn’t working then try doing something different. Try changing how you approach different situations if the previous ways haven’t worked. Try changing your attitude. Even a slight shift can make a big difference.
Life Lesson at The Prado – No One Has To Get It
One of the most famous, and most intriguing paintings (at least to me) at The Prado Museum is painting by Hieronymus Bosch (El Basco in Spanish) called The Garden of Earthly Delights. It’s painted on oak in three panels. The left panel shows a garden scene, and the right panel shows a weird dark scene, and the middle one is like the garden scene, but with some odd, abstract stuff in it. Note: I later saw a copy of this painting at a museum in London.
See, it’s a weird painting. It has a bit of a surrealist kind of feel to it(at least to my non-expert eyes), but it was painted sometime between 1490 and 1510, which is well before the surrealist art movement. There is a debate about what each panel means, and what all the surrealist images say in the painting. Some people believe the left panel represents heaven, the right panel depicts hell, and the middle is how the earth could be if it were paradise. Some people think the surrealist images within the painting represent different Flemish proverbs, but these are just some theories.
What I Learned – you don’t have to get everything. This is something that’s taken me a while to figure out because I want to know it all, but that’s just not possible. I know there are people, like me, that want guarantees and all the knowledge for whatever they are about to see or do. The more I’ve lived and travelled the more I’ve been able to let go of needing all the answers for everything.
Things To Know
The Museo Nacional del Prado or Prado Museum is located along the Paseo del Prado in Madrid, Spain. The Prado is open from 10 am to 8 pm daily, except on Sundays and holidays when it closes at 7 pm. Regular admission is €15. Context Tours offered me a complimentary tour of The Prado Museum, which included entry to the museum. All opinions within this post are my own.
While in Madrid I stayed at the Huespedes Dolcevita Hostel in a single private room with a balcony. There was a shared bathroom, free breakfast, and free Wi-Fi. The hostel was in the LGBT friendly Chueca neighbourhood and was a 5-minute walk to the Chueca Metro station. If you’re looking for a private room in Madrid at a decent price (I paid about $25 for my room/night when I stayed), I highly recommend this hostel. Of course, if you’re not on a budget there are plenty of hotels in Madrid that you can book here.
What is your favourite art museum?
Alouise, it was great to have you on the walk. Thanks for joining us. We’re thrilled that you found the experience valuable and memorable! Best, Context
Hi. Thanks so much for the great experience. I definitely look forward to doing another Context Tour again.
Alouise, it sounds like you lucked out with the tour! Sometimes the right tour makes a big difference. I didn’t make it to the Prado but I’ll definitely keep this tour in mind if I do.
Sounds amazing having a private tour guide around the museum, i can say lucky you! I love viisting art museums when i go to different places. Never been to Madrid yet but for sure Prado is on my list to visit!
Glad you got a private experience! Definitely walking along with an expert makes a huge difference as we could infer from this post. Will bookmark the tour company if we ever head to Madrid 🙂
A private tour? Wow! That is super cool. The only time I visited Prado was on one of the free admission days when it seemed everyone hustled trough the museum quickly to see everything.
The Prado is a mighty looking museum. We caught the Madrid hop on hop off bus from in front but never went inside. The art work on show I side is impressive I believe and the tour you went on sounds amazing.