An immersive virtual reality exhibition developed by ACCIONA Cultura in exclusive collaboration with Madrid’s Museo Nacional del Prado, Masterpieces invites visitors into a multi-sensory reimagining of one of the world’s greatest museums, including fantastical, in-depth explorations of its most celebrated, and rarely traveled, masterpieces.
The first multi-user, location-based VR experience produced in collaboration with the Museo del Prado, Masterpieces does not attempt to recreate the Prado’s galleries through the eyes of a curator or scholar; instead, it reenvisions the museum and its masterworks through the voice of a security guard on his final night shift before retirement. Delving into five of the museum's most iconic and iconographically distinct paintings—from Velázquez’s acclaimed court portrait Las Meninas, to Goya’s dark meditation in Witches’ Sabbath, to Bosch’s The Garden of Earthly Delights and its high-key vision of judgment day—the experience offers an intimate and personal perspective. His animated vision is fueled by time-earned appreciation and curiosity over decades of attention to these works, of service to the museum and its publics. In this way, Masterpieces highlights the often-unseen contributions and insights of museum workers, while raising the question of how original artworks might be experienced in our increasingly virtual world. The works shift from static canvases into three-dimensional and theatrical spaces, inviting audiences past their frames and into the expansive narrative worlds these paintings have contained for centuries.
Over the course of the experience, visitors journey through five iconic works from the Prado’s collection:
The exhibition is, in part, a bridge to access the world’s treasures. These extraordinary pieces, unlikely to ever leave the Prado due to conservation needs, are brought to life in an emotional immersive journey, driven by a commitment to making art more accessible. The Prado rarely lends its masterworks like The Sense of Sight by Peter Paul Rubens and Jan Brueghel and strictly prohibits the loan of the other works in the experience, making a trip to Madrid the only way to encounter these masterpieces—until now.
Beyond access, the project asks a more existential question about what a museum experience can be when it is no longer tethered to the physical object. Masterpieces offers New York audiences, including many who might not otherwise walk into an art museum, an entry point that is at once educational and transportive.