Inside the Private Rooms Where Spanish Kings Stashed Their Porn
For the kings of 16- and 17-century Spain, one of the job’s best perks was access to a sala privada – a room for their private collections of artwork, which they often eagerly filled with nude portraits that the Catholic church publicly considered a sin. The royals’ prurient-minded tastes are partly why disrobed compositions proliferated among the Old Master painters, from disturbing scenes like Rubens’s “Rape of Europa” to more tender moments like Tintoretto’s “Lady Revealing Her Breast.” Many ended up at the Prado, Spain’s national art museum, which is now sharing its fleshy bounty with Williamstown, Massachusetts, where “Splendor, Myth, and Vision: Nudes from the Prado” is on full-frontal display at the Clark Art Institute until October. Take a peek, here.
1Circle of Anthony van Dyck, “Diana and a Nymph Surprised by a Satyr,” 1622–27. Oil on canvas.
2Peter Paul Rubens, “Nymphs and Satyrs,” c. 1638–40. Oil on canvas.
3Domenico Tintoretto, “Lady Revealing Her Breast,” c. 1580– 90. Oil on canvas.
4Jan Brueghel the Elder and Hendrik van Balen, “Abundance with the Four Elements,” c. 1600–1615. Oil on panel.
5Francesco Furini, “Lot and His Daughters,” c. 1634. Oil on canvas.
6Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri), “Susannah and the Elders,” c. 1617. Oil on canvas.
7Guido Reni, “Saint Sebastian,” c. 1617–19. Oil on canvas.
8Jan Brueghel the Elder, Frans Francken II, Hendrik van Balen, Jan Brueghel the Younger and others; “Sight and Smell,” c. 1618–23. Oil on canvas.
9Jacopo Tintoretto, “Susannah and the Elders,” c. 1555. Oil on canvas.
10Peter Paul Rubens, “Fortuna,” 1636–38. Oil on canvas.
11Jacob Jordaens, “Marriage of Peleus and Thetis,” 1636–38. Oil on canvas.
12Peter Paul Rubens, After Titian, “Rape of Europa,” 1628–29. Oil on canvas.
13Jacopo Tintoretto, “Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife,” c. 1555. Oil on canvas.
14Peter Paul Rubens, “Rape of Hippodamia or The Lapiths and the Centaurs,” 1636–38. Oil on canvas.
15Francisco de Zurbarán, “Hercules Defeats King Geryon,” 1634–35. Oil on canvas.
16Titian, “Venus with an Organist and Cupid,” c. 1550–1555. Oil on canvas.
