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museums & arts centres

Prado MUSEUM

Storing over 8,000 artworks, the Prado Museum offers an expansive survey of Western painting, from the Middle Ages to the 19^th century. We recommend you read a guidebook to prepare for your visit. Make sure you spend at least a full morning or afternoon at the museum, but that you don't try to see the whole permanent collection in one day.

Spanish School

The Prado Museum houses the most comprehensive collection of Spanish painting in the world. Your itinerary can begin in the 11^th century, contemplating the Mozarabic murals from the Church of San Baudelio de Berlanga. Then move on to the canvases painted by Bartolomé Bermejo, Pedro Berruguete, Juan de Juanes or Luis de Morales to trace a timeline from Spanish-Flemish Gothic painting to the Renaissance. The galleries devoted to El Greco display some of the most unique examples of Mannerism, such as The Knight with his Hand on his Breast or The Holy Trinity.

The Golden Century is vastly represented through works by Ribera, Zurbarán and Murillo, which explain the context that triggered Velázquez's paintings, whose art peaked with Las Meninas and The Seamstresses, also on show in this museum. Half way between the 18^th and 19^th centuries, the Goya galleries display artworks ranging from the tapestry cardboards he created for the Royal Tapestry Factory, to the Black Paintings he painted on the walls of his house, La Quinta del Sordo (Deaf-Man's Villa). They make it easier to understand Spanish Romanticism. The last galleries in the itinerary are devoted to Sorolla, who in the early 20^th century assimilated the cornerstones of the Spanish school - realism and colour - and introduced concerns typical of modern painting.

Other Collections

The shift from Medieval art to the Renaissance could not be explained without Italian painting, which also had a very strong influence on Spanish Baroque art. The most notable works from the Quattrocento (14^th century) are Fra Angelico's Annunciation, the chest with the story of Nastagio degli Onesti by Botticelli, Mantegna's The Death of the Virgin and Antonello da Messina's The Dead Christ Supported by an Angel. Several of Raphael's virgins justify the classicist splendour of the Cinquecento (15^th century) and the canvases by Titian, Tintoretto and Veronese -the stars of the Venetian school- are some of the Prado Museum's most acclaimed treasures. The different paths travelled by Italian Baroque art are clearly visible in artworks by Caravaggio, Guido Reni and Annibale Carracci. Tiépolo's production, from the 18^th century, closes a cycle that started in the Renaissance and links Italian painting to the conflict between drama and beauty.

The Flemish school is very well represented given the political ties between the Spanish monarchy and Flanders. The Prado Museum accommodates works that range from relevant artworks by the primitive Flemish masters, like Van der Weyden's The Descent from the Cross and Bosch's The Garden of Earthly Delights, which Phillip II collected obsessively, to typical artworks produced during the Baroque splendour of the Brussels Court, with Rubens, the Brueghel Family, Jordaens and Teniers topping the list of the most abundant authors in the Prado. French, Dutch and German painting is also present in the museum's collection. Dürer, Claude Lorrain, Rembrandt or Watteau are some of the other unmissable artists. Albeit less famous, the galleries devoted to sculpture and decorative arts are very interesting. Most notably, the Roman statues, the Dauphin's Treasure - a dinner set inherited by Philip V - and artworks by the Leonis commissioned by Philip II and Charles V.

The Museum's History

The Prado Museum opened for the first time on November 10, 1819. Thanks to the determination of María Isabel of Braganza, married to King Fernando VII, the building that Juan de Villanueva had initially designed to house the Natural History Cabinet finally accommodated an important part of the royal collections. Years of private donations and acquisitions enlarged the museum's collection.

During the Spanish Civil War, the artworks were protected against potential bombings with sacks of sand and stored in the basement of the museum. In the end, as recommended by the League of Nations, the collection was taken first to Valencia and then to Geneva, although the paintings were quickly returned to Madrid when the Second World War broke out.

Temporary Exhibitions

The former Villanueva building accommodates a good part of the painting, sculpture and decorative arts collections. Right behind it, around the Cloister of Los Jerónimos, architect Rafael Moneo constructed a series of galleries that accommodate temporary exhibitions, restoration workshops, an auditorium, a café, a restaurant and offices. El Casón del Buen Retiro, once the dance hall of the now-disappeared Palace of El Buen Retiro, is also part of the museum. The edifice currently accommodates a library and a reading room for researchers.

In short, the Prado Museum is a must for art lovers.

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