Four centuries of Spanish history seen through the eyes of painters including Rubens, Titian, El Greco, Goya and Velázquez will go on view at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, on Sunday, in a blockbuster exhibition called “Portrait of Spain: Masterpieces From the Prado.'' It is the first time the Madrid museum has lent such a large and important group of works from its permanent collection to a museum in the United States.
Included in the show are more than 100 courtly and religious paintings. It is part of a two-museum tour that started at the Queensland Art Gallery in Brisbane, Australia, where it closed last month.
In Houston, where it will be on view through March 31, there will be 80 paintings and 22 works on paper organized according to themes within three distinct eras of Spanish history: 1550 to 1770; 1770 to 1850; and 1850 to 1900.
