The Prado Museum is Ximena Maier’s favorite. She knows it intimately, having wandered through its halls for over twenty years. Her visits are usually brief—sometimes crossing it from end to end, other times seeking a particular subject: hats, dogs, hands, shoes, or the characters she finds most captivating.
Sometimes it’s just an excuse to escape the heat or rain or to pass the time. But she always takes the opportunity to observe carefully everything around her, listen to visitors’ conversations and remarks, and, of course, draw.
Like almost everyone, she harbors a soft spot for Velázquez and Goya, adores some painters, and has inexplicably developed a dislike for others. Some days she sketches what she already knows; other days, she lets herself wander the galleries until something unexpected catches her eye.
For Ximena, the Prado Museum is, above all, a place of delight. This book, born from a year of frequent visits, is an invitation to simply sit before a painting or sculpture, whether for the first or the hundredth time, and let your imagination run free.
