Iberdrola S A : Ávila hosts the exhibition 'The Prado Museum in the streets'

Ávila is hosting the exhibition 'The Prado in the streets', promoted by the Fundación Iberdrola España and the Museo Nacional del Prado, with the collaboration of the Junta de Castilla y León and the city council. This is the eighth location of this travelling exhibition, which began in Salamanca and made its last stops in Valladolid, León, Aguilar de Campoo, Burgos, Soria and Segovia, and which is touring the nine provinces of the region with the aim of raising awareness of the collections and the historical heritage attached to the Museo Nacional del Prado through various educational programmes and cultural dissemination activities.

The exhibition, which recreates a visit to the museum by contemplating the paintings in their real dimensions, living an experience similar to that of standing in front of an authentic work of art, can be visited between 17 December and 17 January at the Paseo del Rastro, one of the city's most emblematic spaces.

This successful cultural initiative was inaugurated this morning by the Mayor of Ávila, Jesús Manuel Sánchez; the President of Fundación Iberdrola España, Fernando García; the Regional Minister of Culture and Tourism of the Junta de Castilla y León, Javier Ortega, and the General Coordinator of Education of the Museo Nacional del Prado, Ana Moreno, and will bring 50 of the most important works from the Museum's Permanent Collection to the people of Ávila through life-size photographic reproductions.

A journey through the history of Western art

This large open-air exhibition, which is curated by Fernando Pérez Suescun, Head of Educational Content at the Prado Museum, will allow visitors to take a journey through the different schools that make up the artistic panorama of the Prado's permanent collection and to learn about the history of Spain, Europe and Western art in general through the great masters of painting. The Spanish, Italian, Flemish, French, German and Dutch schools will be represented by their leading figures from the 12th century to the early 20th century.

The exhibition also has bilingual information panels and posters for each of the works that provide information on the history of the Museum and its collections.

The reproductions are shown on a scale of 1:1, so that, due to the dimensions of the exhibition supports, only a magnificent and grandiose detail of the work can be shown of some of the large paintings, which can be seen in full on the explanatory poster.

After the great success of the exhibition during the Museum's Bicentennial celebrations, "The Prado in the Streets" toured around Castilla-La Mancha until 26 April. In almost two years, thousands of visitors have been able to admire some of the wonders that the Museum treasures in faithful reproductions, reinforcing culture through daily visits and always respecting the anti-COVID19 safety regulations in force.

"The Prado in the Streets" began its journey through Castilian and Leonese lands, specifically in Salamanca on 30 April, and, over the course of ten months, it has toured other cities in Castilla y León, in addition to Salamanca, Valladolid, León, Aguilar de Campoo, Burgos, Soria and Segovia. Its last stop, Ávila, where it is being presented today, will be Benavente, where the exhibition will be on display.

Fundación Iberdrola España, Supporting Member of the Prado Museum

Fundación Iberdrola España develops one of its main lines of activity around the care and maintenance of the cultural and artistic wealth of our country. It has collaborated with the Prado Museum since 2010 by supporting the conservation and restoration programmes of the art gallery, as well as in the development of 4 annual scholarships for young restorers. It also promoted the Extraordinary Programme for the Commemoration of the Bicentenary of the Prado Museum and, specifically, the deployment of this travelling exhibition in Spain, which continues to be a great success.

Since 2011, Fundación Iberdrola España has allocated a total of 13 million euros to the Art and Culture area, which focuses its resources mainly on the Restorations Programme, which supports the restoration workshops of leading museums for the conservation of their pictorial and artistic heritage; and the Lighting Programme, which includes the design, execution and financing of artistic lighting projects in unique buildings and monuments.