The interest of José de Madrazo (1781-1859) in mythological metamorphosis was not fortuitous. This outstanding Spanish artist of the nineteenth century, Avid reader of classic textsreflected in his work on paper a deep fascination for these transformation stories. His detailed drawings reveal a scholarly and narrative approach: It combined various readings to enrich the arguments and created images that not only illustrate myths, but reinterpret them through their own sensitivity. This creative process was also nourished by his vast knowledge of art history, incorporating educated references that demonstrate his rigorous study of both the pictorial tradition and the contemporary scene.
The Prado Museum has organized ‘Change of form: myth and metamorphosis in the Roman drawings of José de Madrazo ‘an exhibition that brings together, until June 22, a set of drawings and portraits that explore the fascination of the Santander painter José de Madrazo (1781-1859) –First artist director of the institution– For mythological metamorphosis, an issue that allowed him to reflect on transformation, both in art and life.
The exhibition transfers to the visitor to a crucial moment of European history, the final years of the expansion of the Napoleonic Empire, in which Madrazo, like so many other artists, lived a difficult balance between tradition and modernity. In this context of revolutions and empires, Madrazo developed a work that dialogues with the great masters of the past, such as Rafael or Mengsbut also with the concerns of his time or with contemporary artistic referents. The scenario of Rome, where it coincided with Carlos IV and his cut in exileit was key to the creation of the drawings that are now presented.
The core of the exhibition is organized around two groups of works that raise questions about their original destiny. On the one hand, we find tests of arguments destined, at least one, to be recorded, while, on the other, compositions in the form of media points that could have been designed to decorate specific spaces, such as the rooms of the palace in which Carlos IV resided in the convent of San Alejo, in the adventine. These works, linked iconographically by issues such as the dispute between Apollo and CupidThey reveal Madrazo’s ability to reinterpret myths from a personal and scholarly perspective.
The sample also includes a significant example of how Madrazo incorporated mythology into its portraits. This is the portrait of Josefa Tudólover and then wife of Manuel Godoytogether with their children, represented as Aphrodite, eros and anterosworshiping a bust of the minister of Carlos IV. This work, loaded with symbolism, combines the exaltation of non -normative family ties with a mythological iconography that underlines the complexity of its context.
In addition, the exhibition offers a reflection on the representation of Madrazo himself through his Enigmatic Black silhouettehis lithographic portrait and his photograph. These images, made at three different biographical moments, reveal their permanent interest in emerging technologies and their experimental spirit, turning their own figure into an artistic research field.
With ‘change of form’, the Prado Museum not only proposes an examination of the technique and scholarship of José de Madrazo, but also invites us to reflect on a period of deep historical and artistic transformations. In the years in which Goya He portrayed the rawness of war and Napoleon reconfigured Europe, Madrazo, from his exile in Rome, explored classic myths as a mirror of his time and his own ability to reinvent himself.
This exhibition continues the research line initiated with ‘paper oaths’. He Daza-Madrazo Fund, acquired by the Prado Museum in 2006it is a fundamental tool for the study of Madrazo’s drawing practice. This corpus allows you to enter the artist’s creative process, analyze its aesthetic decisions and question the limits of its Roman production.
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