Italy and the Iberian Peninsula: A Centuries-Old Dialogue
Italy’s profound influence on the artistic landscape of late-medieval Spain will be the focal point of the Prado Museum’s cultural program in 2026. The exhibition ‘A la manera de Italia. España y el Mediterráneo (1320-1420)’ will run from May 26 to September 20, aiming to reinterpret the Middle Ages as a space of exchanges, travel, and contamination in the Mediterranean. According to Miguel Falomir, director of the Prado Museum, “Without Italy, it is difficult to understand the artistic landscape of late-medieval Spain.”
The Circulation of Artists and Works
The circulation of artists and works between Italy and the Iberian Peninsula introduced aesthetic innovations and iconographic techniques that left a lasting imprint on the region. Local masters reworked these influences through hybrid and eclectic formulas, creating original declinations of Italian models. The Mediterranean emerges as a space of permeable borders, crossed by artistic exchanges deriving from commercial and diplomatic routes. As Joan Molina Figueras, head of the Prado’s European painting collection until 1500, notes, this period was marked by the dialogue between Gothic culture and Islamic horizon, the refinement of luxury works, and a taste for the new that fascinated the elites of the time.
The Exhibition
The exhibition will bring together over 100 works, including paintings, sculptures, fabrics, goldsmithery, and manuscripts, from 56 institutions around the world. Many of these works are little known or have never been exhibited, testifying to the decisive imprint of the Italian fourteenth century on Spanish art. The exhibition will feature masters such as Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Gherardo Starnina, and Barnaba da Modena, alongside Iberian artists like Ferrer and Arnau Bassa, the Serra brothers, and Miquel Alcaniz.
The Three Queens
The project ‘The Three Queens’ will also explore the Italian artistic matrix, as part of the ‘El Prado en feminino’ program. This program is dedicated to Isabel de Farnesio, Christina of Sweden, and Mariana of Austria, sovereigns, collectors, and protagonists of a European cultural policy who had a decisive impact on the birth and identity of the Prado. The centerpiece will be the first major monographic exhibition dedicated to Mariana of Austria, which will run from December 1, 2026, to March 28, 2027. This exhibition will build her political and symbolic image through portraits, sculptures, engravings, medals, and manuscripts.
Other Exhibitions
The Prado’s vast program also includes an opening towards new cultural geographies, from the German Renaissance to Rilke, with the commemorative exhibition ‘Rilke and Spanish art’ (November 17, 2026 – March 7, 2027). This exhibition will feature works by artists such as Velazquez, the Greek, and Goya, who had a profound influence on the poet. For more information, visit the Prado Museum’s website or read the full article Here