The Hieronymus Bosch exhibition breaks visitor records at the Prado Museum
After its blockbuster success, the Prado Museum has finally closed the exhibition “Bosch. The 5th Centenary Exhibition”, which was exclusively sponsored by the BBVA Foundation. Almost 600,000 people came to see this series of important works by the Renaissance painter, which makes this the most visited exhibition in the gallery’s long tradition.
The first monographic exhibition in Spain on the work of Hieronymus Bosch –one of the most enigmatic and influential figures of the Renaissance– has beaten all records, attracting around 34,500 people every week. Only “The Hermitage in the Prado” exhibition, seen by 583,206 people and also sponsored by the BBVA Foundation, came near the milestone achieved by this show.
The exhibition, inaugurated on May 31, featured the greatest repertoire of works by the painter from Brabant ever to be assembled, and was an opportunity for the public to learn more about his personal vision of the world. Visitors were able to see the back and front of his triptychs, which were shown free-standing to make the experience more complete. Among the paintings on display were masterpieces such as “The Garden of Earthly Delights” and “The Adoration of the Magi”.
Public interest was maintained until the end, and all available tickets were sold out until its definitive closure after an exceptional two-week extension. This exhibition was a unique opportunity to enjoy the series of eight paintings by Bosch that are conserved in Spain, plus a series of excellent works from collections and museums all over the world. The show included a total of around 30 paintings by the artist himself and another 20 by his circle of followers.
The activities around Bosch were not limited to the exhibition of his works. In parallel with the show, the Prado Museum, in partnership with the BBVA Foundation, organized the publication of a comic, the production of a documentary directed by José Luis López-Linares, and a video installation entitled “Infinite Garden” created by the artist Álvaro Perdices and the filmmaker Andrés Sanz, based on “The Garden of Earthly Delights”, which was open to visitors until 2 October. Bosch and Pieter Bruegel are the subjects of the program of the VI Chair of the Prado Museum 2016 given by Professor Reindert Falkenburg.