Every year, millions of people travel the rooms of the National Museum of the Prado, in Madrid. Among the many paintings that catch the public, there is one that stands out about the rest. Is The Garden of Delightsthe triptych that the Dutch Jheronimus van Aken The Bosco He painted between 1490 and 1500. More than 300 human figures, many of them naked; animals, real or fantastic; Plants, trees, fruits and multitude of objects parade through this work of dream art, which is full of symbolism and hidden messages.
Admiring it closely and contemplating a few centimeters away all its recesses is a unique experience. But what if the visitor could enter the picture itself, touch with their fingers one of the protagonists and even see and hear how the mythological beings that inhabit the canvas are dancing and move? This is what proposes the virtual reality experience ART MASTERS: A Virtual Reality Experiencean exhibition in which art and technology converge to interact with five of the most emblematic works of the Spanish Pinacoteca.
The sample has been inaugurated in first during the Global New In forum, in Madrid.Act
From Prado to Metaverso: immersive walk by masterpieces
Action Living & Culture has designed and produced this sample, which has just been inaugurated in first during the Global New In forum, held in Madrid, and that this summer will travel to China, where it will be exhibited in Shanghai and Chengdu in June and July. Virtual reality glasses developed by TDG Holding Co., a leading technology company in the Asian country, transfer the public to an imaginary museum from the hand of a security guard that faces its last day of work before retiring. The story of this fictional character serves as a thread of this virtual journey in which real and illusory elements intermingle, and that for just over half an hour brings the viewer to the secrets of iconic creations.
Throughout the route, three -dimensional environments are merged with an enveloping narrative that gives life to the paintings and their characters
After a brief introduction to the Prado Museum, the trip begins with the evocative beauty of The sense of sight (Jan Brueghel and Rubens, 1617) and Las Meninas (Velázquez, 1656). Next, it is time to immerse yourself in the mythological drama of Venus and Adonis (Veronés, 1580). The fourth stop carries the visitor to the sinister and mysterious atmosphere of The Aquelarre (Goya, 1820-23), one of the paintings that the Aragonese genius painted in La Quinta del Sordo, where he created his enigmatic Black paintings. Experience culminates in the surreal and symbolic world of The Garden of Delightsa work that reflects the fascination and astonishment of humanity. Throughout the tour, which at all times maintains academic rigor and fidelity to history, three -dimensional environments with an enveloping narrative that give life to the paintings and their characters are merged.
-“The exhibition is born from the love of the museum in itself that has active and how we can extend this feeling through technology,” explains the director of Design and Experiences of Actiona Living & Culture, Carla Prat. Because next to the paintings, hidden spaces of the building – such as the warehouse – and a multitude of anonymous and almost invisible people who inhabit the pinacoteca -copists and conservatives, among them – whose work is indispensable to keep it alive, also appear on this virtual walk.
A pioneer experience that joins art, history and technology
This experience, says Prat, is a pioneer for several reasons. On the one hand, it is the first time that something similar is done with the Prado Museum. In addition, the focus of the sample focuses on history through painting. This makes the historical discourse prime about entertainment, although without giving up it. To achieve this, its creators have integrated original materials from El Prado, which has allowed to guarantee maximum fidelity and quality.
The creators of the sample have integrated original materials of El Prado, which has allowed to guarantee maximum fidelity and qualityAct
After a year of intense work, the main challenge has been to unite the selected works, all of very different aesthetics and painters of different styles and times. “We wanted the proposal to be fun, but also educational and to preserve the essence that a museum has,” he says. Giving the formula to transfer the spectator to five diverse scenes in a unified way has meant a challenge that they have successfully solved.
When you finish its journey through China, the idea of acting is that this assembly visit other countries. “Technology does not compete with the museum. Quite the opposite: it invites you to visit it to see Las Meninas or the work of The Bosco”, Points out Prat. After all, the way of consuming culture has changed a lot in recent years, and museums are aware of this new reality. In fact, one of the objectives of the project promoted by Actiona Living & Culture is to start collaborating in the future with other museum spaces in the world to develop similar experiences.
