Gate-Passage to the Jerónimos cloisterToday we will not talk about the Three Kings Parade, nor about those people who stand with their stairs as a watchtower to watch the Kings and their entire cohort pass by. We are going to look at another very special element. Since 2007 we can enjoy in Madrid the expansion of the Prado Museum carried out by Rafael Moneo. The expansion was undoubtedly very controversial in its day, but it is now forgotten. It was Moneo's idea to commission Cristina Iglesias to create the doors for the building he had designed.

Cristina Iglesias Fernández Berrido born in San Sebastián in 1956) Sculptor and engraver, winner of the National Fine Arts Prize and one of the most international Spanish artists of recent decades. A different artist who has transformed the concept of sculpture in the field of installations. Many of his works are based on the use of different materials (concrete, bronze, alabaster, resin, iron, glass, sometimes combined with plant motifs such as bamboo and leaf litter) and different techniques (bas-relief, tapestry or large-format screen printing. ), and show us the artist's interest in space, architecture, botany and geology. The contrast of textures and materials, as well as the relationship they establish with space, are two of the constants in her career.

The Gate is also an important part of the extension, due to its artistic value, it is a monumental door, made of patinated bronze and defined by the artist as a “plant tapestry” made up of six panels: two fixed, which invade the side spaces , and four mobiles, two that form the leaves and two others the threshold. The huge Gate-Passage (6 meters high and 22 tons and more than 50 square meters) has a hydraulic system that allows it to be opened in six different positions that are sequenced throughout the day every two hours -10 a.m., 12 p.m., 14 p.m., 16 p.m., 18 p.m. and 20 p.m. - building a different space in each sequence, it is not just a door, it is a passage that gives the entrance a ceremonial, very visual character and gives the building a special uniqueness, enhancing its architectural values ​​in a notable way.

On a walk near El Prado or Retirement It is worth going to Ruiz de Alarcón street on the corner of Casado del Alisal next to the Jerónimos Church to enjoy this door-sculpture that sometimes goes unnoticed.

Greetings and may the Three Wise Men behave well.

Gate-Passage of Cristina Iglesias