Page 25 - Contemporary Art and Old Masters

Villanueva Building, devoted to Jheronimus Bosch but has been modified to gain more circulation space for
closed since the Covid-19 crisis led to the temporary visitors, improve the accessibility of the works, individualize
closure of the Museum, has reopened. Visitors can now the lighting of the different triptychs to enhance the
see a new display that offers a clearer vision of the works overall viewing experience of all the paintings on display
and an optimal use of space. and take into account the requirements deriving from the
implementation of the Emergency Protection of Collections.
The gallery is also enhanced with a professional monitor
that presents an animated sequence of surprising details The new graphics provide information on Bosch’s works in
of the works, some shown up to 12 times their original the form of individual explanatory texts for each work and
size.With the support of Samsung as a Technology an extensive introductory text which introduces the artist
Sponsor, the Museo Nacional del Prado has reopened in person by including his signature at the end.
its gallery devoted to Jheronimus Bosch with a new
installation that marks a radical rethinking from a Designing specific lighting for each triptych has improved
technical viewpoint. New supports have been designed the overall perception of the works on display, with
and made for three of the triptychs and the gallery now particular attention paid to achieving a correct viewing of
has a table-case, a new lighting system, new graphics the reverse of the lateral panels. This was a considerable
and a screen which shows enlarged details of the works. technical challenge due to the limitation of the angle of
the fall of light.
In 2016 the temporary exhibition on Jheronimus Bosch held The new wall color, which is a darker green than the
at the Museum saw more than 600,000 visitors, breaking previous one, emphasizes the graphics and the tones of
a new record for the Prado. In 2019 the Bosch gallery the paintings and interacts more with the lighting.
had more than 7,000 visitors a day, totally 2.5 million In addition, the room has a 65” Samsung professional
in a year. The audio guide commentary on The Garden monitor which shows an animated sequence of surprising
of Earthly Delights is one of the five most listened to by details of the works on display, some shown up to 12
visitors, only after Las Meninas, while during the Covid-19 times their original size.
lockdown the most watched video in the online programme
#PradoContigo was the live one on the painting, which had This latter aspect is a pioneering initiative in terms of
1,344,240 hits on Instagram. In the light of this data the the design and manufacture of multi-risk, individualized
Museum set out to respond to the enormous interest in protective covers (against water, fire, dust, smoke,
this gallery and this new installation optimizes the space etc) which can be installed in an operation that takes
and improves the viewing experience of the works. a maximum of 2.5 minutes. These are combined with
stabilization bases for the triptychs, which have been
While the paintings remain in the same locations within the designed to significantly reduce the time required to
gallery, some formal aspects of the previous installation remove the works to a safe place in the case of an
needed updating and improving. For this reason the display emergency.

The Museo del Prado, Bosch Gallery
Room of the Garden of the Earthly Delights ©Museo Nacional del Prado

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