Beginning this week and continuing for 17 months, the Iberian Peninsula is set to become a world capital of astronomical phenomena. Three solar eclipses—including two total solar eclipses—will pass through the region between August 2026 and January 2028. The first of these is a total solar eclipse occurring this Wednesday evening, drawing crowds to Spain where such an event has not happened in more than a century. Experts anticipate a dramatic scene when the moon moves between Earth and the sun, casting darkness over the Spanish sky for less than two minutes.
An astronomer at the European Space Agency described how people can feel the totality of the event, with a drop in temperature and sudden quiet as birds stop singing, according to Smithsonian Magazine. The Prado Museum in Madrid is joining in the celebration by presenting a new audiovisual work that reimagines famous paintings under the dimming light of an eclipse. This one-minute video features nearly a dozen paintings, animated to show how shadows and lighting change in the eclipse’s glow, set to Vivaldi’s ‘Summer’ from The Four Seasons. The video starts with Diego Velázquez’s Las Meninas, which depicts characters inside the palace of Spanish kings, showing how perspective and light shift under eclipse conditions. Another painting in the video is Goya’s La pradera de San Isidro, which shows a large gathering along Madrid’s River Manzanares and may hint at the crowds expected for the eclipse.
The video was created by a studio named AMB Piensa using artificial intelligence and traditional animation techniques. This project continues an old tradition of artists responding to eclipses through their work.
Artists have long played a role in documenting solar eclipses, including Howard Russell Butler, who painted the 1918 eclipse in Oregon at the request of the Naval Observatory. Butler was known for his portraits and spent hours painting during the eclipse, as he described in a 2024 article by Smithsonian magazine’s Elissaveta M. Brandon.
Eclipses also appear in Christian iconography, sometimes linked to biblical events such as the crucifixion of Jesus. Artists today often blend religious and scientific responses to eclipses, rather than choosing one over the other, according to Ian Blatchford, director of the Science Museum Group.
In addition to the eclipse in Spain, a partial solar eclipse will be visible tomorrow in parts of New England and northern U.S. regions, according to a report from AOL. NASA explains that viewers inside the moon’s shadow but outside the path of totality will see only a partial eclipse. The event is scheduled to begin around midday Eastern Time on Wednesday, August 12, 2026.
People are strongly advised not to look directly at the sun during the eclipse without special eye protection. Those who want to watch the total solar eclipse in mainland Europe can follow along through NASA’s streaming platforms including X, YouTube, and Netflix.
IMAGE: josephwoodall2 / Pixabay