Prado and Haiku

Yesterday was my first full day in Madrid. Woke up at my usual time and worked on the Mothership interview. The gym on my street, Calle Valverde, opened at 9 am. A cute young gay guy was working out there when I arrived. Four other guys came in after me. The equipment was rather worn, but I managed to put in a good workout. Then I went for a run. I had walked around Chuecas on the day of my arrival in Madrid. Yesterday, I ran to the west of my street, and looked around Malasaña. The neighborhood, with its alternative shops and wall posters, reminded me of the Lower East Side. Like the LES, it was also gentrifying, art galleries and such.

I decided to walk to the Prado instead of taking the Metro. At the museum, I saw Titian's wonderful "A Knight of Malta with a Clock." Everywhere I was looking for portraits of men in their handsome prime, Caravaggio's young "David with the Head of Goliath" proving an exception. Velazquez was a star of the show. His "Las Meninas" proved equal to its reputation: a completely absorbing work. I also liked very much his paintings of the dwarves at court, especially after looking at too many Italian idealizations of beauty. He was clearly a painter of immense sympathies and a philosophical bent. Goya was the other star. His historical paintings "The Second of May 1808" and "The Third of May 1808," which commemorate the uprising against the French that sparked the War of Spanish Independence, went far beyond their occasion. The Black Paintings were fantastic and surreal, their animalistic faces reminding me of Bacon. Originally wall murals, they were transferred to canvas by another painter. The most affecting painting was "The Witches' Sabbath, or The Great He-Goat." A girl in black veil to the right of the painting was waiting to be initiated. The nightmarish quality reminded me of Hawthorne's short story "Young Goodman Brown," published in 1835, some ten years after the painting.

I had a lunch of huevos rotos (broken eggs) that came in a sarten (saucepan). I did not understand the proprietress when she tried to tell me that "postre" was included in the set meal. A man at the counter kindly explained to me in English. I think I will have big mid-day meals and very small suppers while I'm in Spain. It is too hot even at 7 pm to think of eating much. Drink is another matter.


Malasaña lives—
workmen holed up in the shade
she still works the street

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