A Total Solar Eclipse Is Coming to Spain. This Madrid Museum Is Celebrating With a Digital Artwork Illuminating Its Paintings ‘In the Light of the Eclipse’

Starting this week and extending for the next 17 months, the Iberian Peninsula will become a global hub for exceptional astronomical events. Three solar eclipses are expected, including two total solar eclipses, between August 2026 and January 2028. The first total solar eclipse is anticipated to attract tourists to Spain, where such a phenomenon has not occurred in over a century.

The upcoming eclipse is set to create an awe-inspiring display when the moon traverses between Earth and the sun, casting a dark shadow over the Spanish sky for a mere two minutes. Pedro García Lario, an astronomer at the European Space Agency, describes the moment of totality as feeling the celestial darkness, experiencing a slight temperature decrease, hearing a cool breeze, and noticing birds momentarily ceasing their songs.

In response to the celestial event, Madrid’s renowned museum, the Prado, has unveiled a new digital artwork that brings selected paintings to life as if they were captured in the dimming light of a solar eclipse. The one-minute video, titled El Prado a la luz del eclipse, features nearly a dozen artworks animated to depict the changes in shadows and lighting caused by the eclipse.

The piece commences with a cloak of darkness enveloping Diego Velázquez’s Las Meninas (1656), which portrays various characters, including the painter himself, within the palace of the kings of Spain.

The Prado's statement elaborates that in defining the space, the multiplication of light sources plays an essential role, highlighting the scientific perspective and aerial perspective employed by the painter. As the video progresses, a vivid sunbeam reflects off the iconic green parasol in Francisco Goya’s El Quitasol (1777), showcasing Goya’s mastery in capturing light and shadows.

Another Goya painting animated in the video, La pradera de San Isidro (1788), depicting a crowd gathered along Madrid’s River Manzanares, seemingly foreshadows the massive crowds that will gather to witness the celestial event.