The Museo Nacional del Prado is the heart of the Paseo del Prado's "golden triangle of art" and one of the world's great art galleries. It is not an encyclopaedic museum like the Louvre: it is a court collection, that of the kings of Spain, who for three centuries bought and commissioned Europe's finest painters. That is why it is unbeatable for Spanish, Flemish and Venetian painting. It is part of the Madrid guide.
History
The building was designed by Juan de Villanueva for Charles III as a natural history museum, part of the great Enlightenment project of the Paseo del Prado with the Botanical Garden and the Observatory. After the war against Napoleon, Ferdinand VII and Queen Maria Isabel of Braganza decided to make it a museum of painting and sculpture from the royal collections: the Prado opened on 19 November 1819 with 311 paintings. During the civil war the works were evacuated to Valencia and then Geneva to save them from bombing. In 2007 Rafael Moneo's extension added a new building in the cloister of the Jerónimos church.
Masterpieces not to miss
| Work | Artist | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Las Meninas | Velázquez | The most studied painting in art history, a play of gazes and mirrors |
| The Surrender of Breda | Velázquez | War told with humanity |
| The Black Paintings | Goya | The murals from the Quinta del Sordo, including Saturn Devouring His Son |
| The Third of May 1808 | Goya | The French execution of Madrid's citizens |
| The Naked and Clothed Maja | Goya | Spain's most famous twin portraits |
| The Garden of Earthly Delights | Hieronymus Bosch | The visionary triptych loved by Philip II |
| The Nobleman with his Hand on his Chest | El Greco | The portrait of the Castilian hidalgo |
| The Descent from the Cross | Rogier van der Weyden | A peak of Flemish painting |
| The Triumph of Death | Pieter Bruegel the Elder | An apocalypse of skeletons |
| Charles V at Mühlberg | Titian | The model for all equestrian portraits |
| The Three Graces | Rubens | Baroque sensuality |
| The Annunciation | Fra Angelico | One of the museum's Italian gems |
Italians are at home in the Prado: besides Titian, the favourite painter of Charles V and Philip II, there are Raphael, Mantegna, Veronese, Tintoretto, Caravaggio, Guido Reni, Artemisia Gentileschi, Luca Giordano and Tiepolo. Among the Spaniards, besides the big three, are Murillo, Zurbarán, Ribera, who worked in Naples, and Sorolla.
A two-to-three-hour route
The museum is huge: choose. Entering by the Puerta de Goya or the Jerónimos, go up to the first floor and straight into the great central gallery, with 16th- and 17th-century portraits and religious works. In the middle is room 12, home of Las Meninas, surrounded by Velázquez's other works. Continue to the south side for Goya: the tapestry cartoons, the portraits of Charles IV's family, the two majas, then go down to the ground floor for the Black Paintings and the Third of May. The ground floor also has Bosch, Bruegel and the Flemish painters, and the Dauphin's Treasure. Finish with El Greco and the Venetians. The museum's app and map show where works hang, as they are sometimes moved.
The Casón and the Salón de Reinos
A short walk towards the Retiro, the Casón del Buen Retiro, the last remnant of the 17th-century palace, houses the library and a ceiling painted by Luca Giordano. The nearby Salón de Reinos, Philip IV's former throne room, is being transformed into a new wing of the museum designed by Norman Foster.
Practical information
- Hours: Monday to Saturday 10am-8pm, Sundays and holidays 10am-7pm; closed 1 January, 1 May and 25 December.
- Ticket: 15 euros, reduced 7.50; free for under-18s and students aged 18 to 25.
- Free entry: Monday to Saturday 6-8pm, Sundays and holidays 5-7pm; the queue forms early and time is short, so it suits a second, targeted visit.
- Booking: an online timed ticket avoids the ticket-office queue.
- Rules: no photography inside; large backpacks to the cloakroom.
- Break: the museum café, or a walk in the nearby Retiro.
The Paseo del Arte card is a discounted combined ticket for the Prado, Reina Sofía and Thyssen, valid for a year. For other museums see Madrid museums.