View of Madrid from the Plantío de los Infantes or Madrid Seen from El Pardo

Painted in 1900, this canvas by Aureliano de Beruete shows Madrid as a thin band of pale buildings sitting low on the horizon. The city almost hides behind the real star of the picture: the rolling green countryside up front, spotted with bushes and trees dashed onto the canvas in quick, loose brushstrokes. A wisp of smoke drifts up on the left side, a quiet reminder that the modern city is busy and working somewhere in the distance. Above it all, a wide sky full of soft whites and grays fills the top half of the scene, giving the whole view the feel of a mild spring or summer afternoon.

Beruete came to painting by an unusual road. He first trained as a lawyer and even spent time in politics before dedicating himself fully to art. He struck up a close friendship with the celebrated Joaquín Sorolla and earned a reputation as a serious art historian, writing a landmark study of Velázquez. His own work leaned toward Impressionism, chasing light, air, and the open lands ringing Madrid that he returned to over and over.

The spot shown here is El Pardo, a stretch of woods and old hunting grounds to the northwest of the city. Beruete was not chasing spectacle or drama. He simply wanted to record the plain beauty of a landscape he knew by heart, and the result is calm and honest, a peaceful glimpse of open ground under a shifting sky.