Authors in the Prado

FAIN: FV-50387-14

Brigham Young University (Provo, UT 84602)
Ray Clifford (Project Director: March 2014 to May 2017)

A five-week seminar for sixteen school teachers of Spanish to study the relationship between literary works and works of art in the Museo del Prado in Madrid, Spain.

The seminar will be held in Madrid, Spain the explicit support and active collaboration of personnel in the Prado Museum. We will explore the relationships between history, art and literature through reading and informal performance of plays by Calderón de la Barca, Lope de Vega, Buero Vallejo, Alberti and Arrabal. These plays either inspired or were inspired by masterworks of art created by Velázquez, Goya, Maíno, Picasso, and others. We conclude our experience with a conversation with novelist Paloma Diaz Mas about her book, El sueño de Venecia (1992) that summarizes the themes treated in the earlier works. Excursions to Toledo, Segovia, Avila and Salamanca will enhance our explorations of Spanish art and its contexts. A highlight will include a visit to the restricted historic library at the U. of Salamanca where our teachers will be able to explore some of the most significant bibliographic treasures of Spain.