Rilke and Spanish Art

Preview: written before the show opened

Rilke reached Spain in November 1912 and spent the winter, until February 1913, in Toledo, Ronda and Madrid. In Madrid he visited the Prado and the Royal Armoury, and the museum says that is where he renewed his enthusiasm for El Greco and his interest in Goya and Velázquez.

The show marks the centenary of his death and hangs in Room C of the Jerónimos Building. Its centre is that 1912-13 journey. Around it sit his early writing on Velázquez and Murillo, El Greco's lasting pull, and his friendship with the painter Ignacio Zuloaga from 1902 to 1906, documented through their correspondence.

The Prado has published no list of loans and there are no reviews yet, so this is a show about a poet's way of looking, not a known set of masterpieces. Entry is included in general admission (€15, reduced €7.50, free in the last two hours before closing). Rilke crossed a country in winter for these paintings, so the Line 1 ride to Estación del Arte is manageable.