Mariana: Velázquez’s Portrait of a Queen from the Museo Nacional del Prado

Program of the complementary activities organized in 2025 for the exhibition Mariana. Portrait of a Queen, by Diego Velázquez. On loan from the Museo Nacional del Prado, which will take place at the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, opening on December 13, 2024 and closing on March 24, 2025. The exhibition aims to show how the dynamic interplay between art and life not only inspired Velázquez's dazzling and enigmatic portrait of Mariana, but also shaped the queen's worldview as she shaped her new political role. Exhibited for the first time on the West Coast, Velázquez's monumental image will be installed alongside an international group of artists whose works were collected by the Habsburg court. Paintings by Nicolas Poussin, Guido Reni and Peter Paul Rubens, all highlights from the Norton Simon Museum's collections, evoke Mariana's everyday access to remarkable works of art, and invite comparisons between Velázquez and the artists he knew and admired. Mariana: Portrait of a Queen by Velázquez will be exhibited alongside paintings by Jusepe de Ribera, Bartolomé-Esteban Murillo, and Francisco de Zurbarán, offering a unique opportunity to view this essential quartet of 17th-century Spanish painters under one roof. The complementary program includes guided tours, three lectures and a concert.