Paintings and performances for Madrid's papal pilgrims

As complaints resound about the 50-million-euro expense of Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Madrid for World Youth Day (JMJ) from August 16 to 21 - to be defrayed by several banks and by the taxpayer - others assert the expense will be amply offset by tourist income. The JMJ organization estimates around two million young people from every corner of the globe will turn out to greet the pope, who will arrive two days after they all begin crowding in on the 18th.

To help them while away the time as they await him, several public and private institutions have programmed no less than 40 cultural activities likely to suit the pontiff's taste. Notable among these are the exhibitions The Word Made Image. Paintings of Christ in the Prado Museum and Encounters. Religious Paintings from the 14th to the 18th Century at the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza.

Two million young people from across the globe will turn out to greet the pope

The pièce de résistance is the Caravaggio work on loan from the Vatican

Elsewhere, there will also be performances of a classic auto sacramental (religious play) by the 17th-century playwright Pedro Calderón de la Barca, as well as cinema and dance displays.

The pièce de résistance is in the Prado Museum, which has organized an itinerary that features Caravaggio's imposing The Entombment of Christ (1602-1604), on loan for the occasion from the Vatican Museum. It will be complemented with 13 pictures from the Prado's own collection, including Zurbarán's Agnus Dei; some episodes of the Passion painted by Rogier van der Weyden; and Velázquez's Crucifixion. These paintings have been selected because they all have in common "the interpretation of Holy Writ and of the figure of Christ by great artists," according to the museum's director, Miguel Zugaza, adding that "the Prado proposed to the JMJ 2011 organization the possibility of an itinerary concentrating on a number of religious works in our collection, together with the loan of The Entombment of Christ." Housed entirely within the museum, the itinerary is included in the ordinary entrance fee and will be on view until September 18.

The Prado is not the only major museum shifting exhibits around to suit the acolytes set to throng Madrid in mid-August. The Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, across the street from the Prado, will be showing a series of episodes from the life of Christ belonging to various schools of painting. Visitors will be able to view works by Duccio di Buoninsegna, Albrecht Dürer, Jan Brueghel the Elder, Guercino and Giovanni Paolo Panini. Mar Borobia, curator of the exhibition Encounters. Religious Paintings from the 14th to the 18th Century, explains the idea came from the JMJ 2011 organization.

The pictures will be on view from August 2 to September 4 in the Thyssen's Contexto hall. It is accessible by way of an independent entrance, and entry is free of charge. Meanwhile the museum's shop plans to make the most of the expected crowds to sell bracelets, necklaces and other items to commemorate the papal visit.

And from August 16 to 18, Teatros del Canal will be staging Año Santo en Madrid (or, Holy Year in Madrid), an auto sacramental (a sort of allegorical religious play, normally of one act) by Madrileño playwright Pedro Calderón de la Barca (1600-1681). Being staged for the first time in 400 years, the play turns upon a believer who sets out on a pilgrimage to amend his sins. The work is produced by a company that specializes in the work of this very prolific writer, who in the latter part of his life turned out these autos at the rate of two or three a year, in addition to his other work. Entry to the performances is free of charge, though an invitation is required.