The royal collection was started by Queen Isabella back in the 16th century, then until the 19th century, her successors supplemented the collection. About 1,500 works of art, mostly paintings, can be exhibited in the Prado at any one time. Try to see the collections of works by Goya and Velazquez. In recent years, the museum has undergone restoration, including the appearance of an underground passage to the main building, and the Kason del Buen Retiro complex with a collection of 19th-century Spanish art was rebuilt. Other museums nearby include the Reina Sofia Museum, the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum and the Archaeological Museum, which houses collections of Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Greek and Roman art formerly on display at the Prado.
Tel.: 91 3302800
Mon.-Sat. 10.00-20.00; Sun. and holidays 10.00-19.00;
Closed Jan 1, May 1 and Dec 25
paid entrance
Metro: Banco de España
The most famous museum in Spain attracts many tourists to Madrid. It is more convenient to view this huge collection in small parts, for example, the works of certain artists or a specific historical period; Therefore, we recommend visiting it at least twice. If you only have one day, then find at least three hours of time. At the end of the week the museum is usually crowded.
Spanish painting
Spanish art from the early Middle Ages is represented in the Prado mainly in sketches, but there are also a few full-color examples, such as the anonymous frescoes from the monastery of Santa Cruz de Maderuelo, which are characterized by Romanesque heaviness of line and the recreation of original characters.
Spanish Gothic is represented in the Prado by the works of Bartolomé Bermejo and Fernando Gallego. The realism of their paintings is explained by borrowings from Flemish painters of that time.
Signs of the coming Renaissance appear in the works of artists such as Pedro de Berruguete, whose painting Auto da Fé evokes a strong emotional response. Fernando Yanez de la Almedina's Saint Catherine shows the style of Leonardo da Vinci, for whom Yanez may have worked while studying in Italy. The Spanish style, the main features of which are severity, gloom and deep emotionality, began to take shape during the period of mannerism of the 16th century. An example is the painting “The Descent from the Cross” by Pedro Machuca and the Madonna by Luis de Morales, nicknamed the Divine. The deliberately elongated human figures in Morales’s canvases were borrowed from El Greco (Domenico Theotokopouli). Despite the fact that many of El Greco's masterpieces are in Toledo, the Prado houses a substantial collection of his works, including Portrait of an Aristocrat.
The "Golden Age" was a time of unprecedented flowering of Spanish art. José de Ribera, who lived in Naples, Spain, was a follower of Caravaggio, using realistic writing and chiaroscuro techniques. Another master who used the same method was Francisco Ribalta, whose painting "Christ and St. Bernard" is also in the Prado. The museum also has a number of works by Zurbaran - still lifes, images of saints and monks.
This period is superbly represented by the paintings of Diego de Velazquez, who became court painter when he was not yet thirty years old, and remained in this position until his death. He painted ceremonial portraits of members of the royal family, paintings on religious and mythological subjects. Many of his paintings are in the Prado. Perhaps the most significant of his works is Las Meninas (Maids of Honor).
Another great Spanish painter, Goya, who worked in the 18th century, drew sketches for tapestries at the beginning of his career, and later became a court artist. The most interesting paintings by Goya stored in the Prado include “The Execution of the Rebels on the Night of May 3, 1808,” condemning war and violence, and the famous “Dark Paintings” series.
Flemish and Dutch painting
Many magnificent paintings by Flemish and Dutch painters are in the Prado. Examples include the paintings “St. Barbara" by Robert Campin, imbued with a sense of intimacy, and "The Descent from the Cross" by Rogier van der Weyden, without a doubt a masterpiece. The most famous are the impressive, mystical paintings of Hieronymus Bosch, among those stored in the Prado “The Temptation of St. Anthony” and the triptych “A Wain of Hay”. Among most interesting works XVI century "The Triumph of Death" by Bruegel the Elder. The museum owns almost a hundred canvases by the Flemish painter of the 17th century. Peter Paul Rubens, including the painting “The Adoration of the Magi.” One of the most famous paintings Exhibited at Prada is Rembrandt's "Artemisia", painted by the artist's wife. Of the other Flemish and Dutch artists whose works are represented in the Prado, mention must be made of Anthony More, Anthony Van Dyck and Jacob Jordaens, considered one of the best portrait painters of the 17th century.
Italian painting
The Prado Museum is superior to many museums and can rightfully boast an extensive collection of Italian paintings. Botticelli's magnificent decorative wooden profiles, entitled The Story of Nastagio degli Onesti, the story of a knight forever condemned to pursue and kill his beloved, were commissioned from two wealthy Florentine families.
Here it is fashionable to see Raphael’s paintings “Christ on the Way to Calvary” and “ Holy family with lamb" and early painting Tintoretto "Christ washing the feet of the disciples." Spanish painters were heavily influenced by Caravaggio and used his characteristic way of handling light and shadow, as in the painting "David with the Head of Goliath". The Prado also widely exhibits works by Venetian painters Veronese and Titian. Titian was a court painter at the court of Carlos V, his canvases express the most dramatic moments of the Habsburg era, an example of this is the gloomy and solemn painting “Emperor Charles V at Mühlberg”. The museum also displays works by Giordano and Tiepolo, a recognized master of Italian Rococo, who painted the painting "The Immaculate Conception", which is part of a series intended for the church in Aranjuez.
French painting
The Prado Museum has eight paintings attributed to Poussin, including his serene Saint Cecilia and Landscape with Saint Jerome.
The best work of Claude Lorraine presented in the Prado is “The Sailing of St. Paula to Ostia.” Among the 18th century artists whose work is presented here are Antoine Watteau and Jean Ranc. An interesting portrait of “Philip V” by the royal portrait artist Louis-Michel Van Loo.
German painting
The Prado Museum houses several paintings by Albrecht Dürer, including the classic Adam and Eve. His expressive Self-Portrait of 1498, painted at the age of 26, is the crown jewel of the Prado's small but highly valuable collection of German painting. Also here you can see several paintings by Lucas Cranach and canvases by the artist late XVIII V. Anton Rafael Mengs, among them a portrait of Carlos III.
Tourists who have been to Madrid at least once know how much interesting places there is in the capital of Spain. One of the most popular attractions of this spanish city is the Prado Museum. This unique cultural object is on a par with such major world museums as the Louvre, the Hermitage, and the Tretyakov Gallery.
Historical reference
The collection of paintings presented in the Prado began to gather long before the construction and opening of the museum building itself. Back in the 16th century, the rulers of the Habsburg dynasty (King Charles V and his son Philip II) began collecting paintings by famous Spanish artists. A little later, the royal court acquired several paintings by Italian and Flemish painters. Over the years, the Habsburg collection grew and was constantly replenished. Already in those distant times, Spanish rulers could boast of a large number of works by such masters as Bosch, Raphael, Titian, Van Dyck, Bruegel the Elder and others.
The building that now houses the Prado Museum also has long story. Its construction began back in 1785. It was originally planned that the building would house the House of Sciences, but due to the occupation of Madrid by Napoleon's troops from 1808 to 1813, the building had to be used as a barracks where the Spanish cavalry were based.
In 1814, King Ferdinand VII of Spain decided to open the Royal Museum in the vacant premises. European art. The grand opening of the cultural site took place only five years later - in November 1819. The king wanted not only to demonstrate collected collection(at that time it consisted of 311 paintings), but also to prove to the whole world that creations Spanish painters are in no way inferior to the works of other European creators.
It is no coincidence that the Spanish museum received its name. Previously, the Prado de San Jeronimo park was located on the site of the building. The founders of the gallery decided to keep the old name - Prado (this word is translated from Spanish as “meadow”).
After the museum began operating, the collection of paintings also continued to grow. Already in 1826, paintings stored at the Academy of San Fernando came here. After the closure of some monasteries and church schools, works of art were also transferred to the Madrid gallery. In addition, many private collectors bequeathed their collections to the Prado.
What to see?
Today, the Prado collection includes more than 8.5 thousand paintings. Due to the lack of space for viewing, only about 2 thousand paintings are available at a time; the remaining works of art are stored in storage rooms. In addition, gallery visitors will be able to see sculptures, prints, engravings, historical documents, coins, jewelry, medals, porcelain, dishes, etc.
Today, the Prado Museum, which the whole of Madrid is proud of, displays the most complete collection of paintings by Spanish painters (about 4,800 canvases). Visitors will be able to see works by Goya, Velazquez, Murillo, El Greco, Alonso Cana and other famous artists.
In addition, people who come to the Prado Museum will be able to view the work of painters from other European countries. Here are paintings by Flemish masters - Bruegel, Memling, Bosch, Weiden, Rubens, Jordaens (a total of about 1000 paintings). Also in the gallery halls you can see works by Italians - Tintoretto, Botticelli, Raphael, Titian, Veronese, Giorgione, Mantegna, Fra Angelico, Andrea del Sarto (more than 1000 canvases, most of which date back to the 17th-18th centuries).
In addition to the above-mentioned painters, the Prado collection includes works by German, Dutch, and French artists. The museum staff is constantly carrying out restoration work and restoring various paintings written during the Renaissance.
Tired of wandering around the exhibition halls, tourists can go to the cafe located in the gallery building. After viewing the exhibition, visitors will be invited to stop by the gift shop. Here you can buy books about the museum and its exhibits, souvenirs and various useful little things.
How to get there?
The Prado Museum is located at Calle Ruiz de Alarcón, 23. You can get there by metro. Tourists can get off at metro stations such as Atocha, Anton Martin or Banco de España. You can also get to the cultural site by bus. Buses number 34, 45, 37, 27, 14, 10 go to the gallery. You need to go to the Paseo del Prado stop.
Working hours
Those who wish to visit the Madrid Museum should know that the gallery is open from Monday to Saturday from 10 am to 8 pm. On Sundays and holidays, the museum's opening hours are from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. On January 6, December 24, and 31, the cultural site is open until 2 p.m. May 1, December 25, January 1, the gallery is closed to the public.
The greatest flow of visitors to the Prado is recorded from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. For tourists who do not like large crowds and crowds, it is best to plan a visit to a cultural site in the evening.
Cost of visit
Tourists who decide to look at the exhibition of the Prado Museum in the city of Madrid will have to buy entry tickets. Adult visitors will have to pay 14 euros for entry (you can buy an audio guide in Russian for an additional cost). For people of retirement age, the ticket price will be 7 euros. Children under 18 years of age and students under 25 years of age will be able to enter the museum for free.
In addition, in the evening (from Monday to Saturday from 18.00 to 20.00 and on Sunday from 17.00 to 19.00) you can visit the permanent exhibition of the museum for free. For temporary exhibitions during these hours the cost is halved. To find out more information or to book a ticket in advance, tourists can go to the official Prado website www.museodelprado.es.
National Museum The Prado is located on one of the most popular tourist routes in the Spanish capital - Boulevard of Arts. In addition to the famous paintings “Las Meninas” by Velazquez and “The Third of May 1808 in Madrid” by Goya, the museum’s halls display masterpieces of Spanish, Italian and Flemish painting. The Prado's most valuable collection includes 8,600 paintings and more than 700 sculptures. Before visiting the museum, we recommend that you read the reference material.
The Prado Museum houses the world's largest collection of Spanish paintings. You can start getting acquainted with it from the 11th century - here are fragments mozarabic frescoes from the church of San Baudelio de Berlanga. Further on, in the rooms, which display works from the Spanish-Flemish Gothic to the Renaissance, you can see paintings by Bartolomé Bermejo, Pedro Berruguete, Juan de Juanes and Luis de Morales. In the halls dedicated to creativity El Greco, such masterpieces of this artist as “Knight with a hand on his chest” and “Trinity” are stored.
Golden age represented by paintings by Ribera, Zurbaran and Murillo, which preceded the work Velazquez. The most famous masterpieces this artist - "Las Meninas" and "Spinners" - can also be seen in the halls of the Prado. In the halls dedicated Francisco Goye, who worked at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, his works are presented: from cardboards for tapestries created for the Royal Tapestry Manufactory to the “Gloomy Pictures” with which the artist painted the walls of his “House of the Deaf.” Some rooms are dedicated to 19th century painting. In them you can see paintings by Fortuny, father and son Madrazo, as well as Sorolla.
Other collections
Italian painting is important for understanding the transition from medieval art to the Renaissance. In addition, she had a huge influence on the Spanish Baroque. Among the paintings of the Quattrocento era (XV century), “The Annunciation” deserves special attention. Fra Angelico, series “The Novella of Nastagio degli Onesti” Botticceli, "Assumption of the Virgin Mary" Mantegna and "Dead Christ Supported by an Angel" Antonello la Messina. The heyday of classicism in the era of the Cinquecento (XVI century) is represented by several maidens of Raphael, and the paintings Titian, Tintoretto And Veronese, the great artists of the Venetian school, are among the most valuable exhibits of the Prado Museum. Various directions of Italian Baroque are represented by works Caravaggio, Guido Reni And Annibale Carracci.
A large collection of Flemish paintings appeared due to the close political ties of the Spanish monarchs with Flanders. The collection of the Prado Museum includes both the most significant works of representatives of early Netherlandish painting that were acquired by Philip II, such as “The Descent from the Cross” van der Weyden and garden earthly pleasures» Bosch, and works characteristic of the heyday of the Baroque at the Brussels court Rubens, families Bruegel, Jordans And Teniers, which are presented in large quantities in the Prado. French, Dutch and German schools are also present in the museum's collection. Let's name just a few of the representatives of these art schools: Albrecht Durer,Claude Lorrain,Rembrandt, Antoine Watteau. Less well known are the very interesting halls dedicated to sculpture and decorative arts. Particularly noteworthy are the Roman sculptures, the Dauphin's Treasure (a set of dishes inherited by Philip V) and the works of the Leoni masters, made by order of Philip II and Charles V.
Storymuseum
The Prado Museum first opened its doors on November 10, 1819. On the initiative of Queen Maria Isabella de Braganza, wife of Ferdinand VII, the building, which the architect Juan de Villanueva designed for the Museum natural history, became the storage place for a significant part of the royal collection of paintings. Later funds art gallery increased thanks to acquisitions and gifts from private individuals.
During the Spanish Civil War, works of art were stored on the lower floor of the museum, protected from possible bombing by sandbags. Then, on the recommendation of the League of Nations, the collection was exported through Valencia to Geneva. The paintings were returned to Madrid immediately after the outbreak of World War II.
Periodic exhibitions
The ancient Villanueva building houses most of the collections of paintings, sculptures and decorative arts. Immediately behind it, next to the Hieronymite Monastery, designed by the architect Rafael Moneo A new adjoining building was built in which periodic exhibitions are held. Restoration workshops, a concert hall, cafes, restaurants and office premises are also located here. The museum also owns the Kason building, the former ballroom of the now defunct Buen Retiro Palace. Today there is a library and reading room for researchers.
The institution, which is now known as the Prado Museum, opened its doors to visitors on November 19, 1819 as the Royal Museum of Paintings, created at the behest and under the patronage of King Ferdinand VII. The purpose of creating the Prado Museum is to put on public display art treasures that until that time were known and open only to the eyes of a narrow circle of representatives of the royal house, aristocracy and the church. This idea - to make art open to the people - was rooted in the era
Enlightenment, received further development during the revolution and, like many other ideas, spread throughout Europe thanks to Napoleonic wars. Already at the very beginning of the 19th century, it was clear that the Spanish royal house needed to create a museum at court and thus unite all the outstanding works of art that were stored throughout the country and in inappropriate conditions. However, the first serious attempt to establish such a painting museum was made after the invasion of Napoleonic troops. In 1809, Joseph Bonaparte issued an order ordering the creation of a museum of art in Madrid and the name of this museum Josephino. Initially, it was planned to locate the museum in the Buenavista Palace, not far from the current Plaza Cibeles, but due to the fact that this palace turned out to be difficult to adapt to new needs, in 1811 it was decided to use the building erected in the Prado de San Genonimo area according to the design of Juan de Villanueva. This building, the construction of which began in 1785 under the patronage of the first Secretary of State Charles III, the enlightened politician Count of Floridablanca, was intended for the Cabinet of Natural History and the Academy of Sciences, but was not used in this capacity and became the premises of the Royal Museum of Pictures, the predecessor of the current Prado Museum.
Over time, this museum acquired the name of the place where it is located (prado - “meadow” in Spanish).
Joachim Patinir Crossing the River Styx
After the Spanish War of Independence and the expulsion of French troops in May 1814, King Ferdinand VII returned to Madrid and approved the idea of publishing an art museum. In the time since his return, the king had accomplished everything necessary to found the museum, and thus, under the patronage of the king, paid for from his personal funds, the Prado Museum appeared. The holdings of the Prado Museum are works loaned from the Royal Collections. These circumstances determine the special, individual character of the meeting. The Prado Museum is born of a passion for art and collecting and reflects the personal tastes of the monarchs who ruled Spain since the 15th century. This is, perhaps, the most expressive museum, compiled with love, logical both in content and in the relationship of the works presented in it, and the enthusiasm and passion of its creators is vividly felt in it.
Historically, the Prado's holdings - its true essence - are four centuries older than the museum itself, created at the beginning of the 19th century. The Museum reflects the history of the Royal Collections, which began with the Catholic Kings Ferdinand and Isabella, who were fond of Flemish art, and this art was constantly present in the Collections, replenished by the royal heirs, from the 15th century. Their grandson Charles V continued to acquire works by prominent Flemish masters such as van der Weyden, van Eyck and Anthony Mohr van Daskhorst, but also paid attention to the work of Italian artists, in particular Titian, the senior portrait painter of this king and his son Philip II, who in the XVI century was the first to stimulate the growth of the Royal Collections. Thanks to these two monarchs and Mary of Hungary, Sister of Charles V and Regent of the Netherlands, the Prado contains one of the most best meetings works by Titian, an artist who subsequently had a huge influence both on the orientation of the Royal Collections themselves and on the development of Spanish painting in general. However, Philip II inherited from his ancestors a love for Flemish art and acquired paintings by Van der Weyden, Bouts, Patinir, Campin, Gossaert, David and, of course, Bosch - the best collection of paintings by this artist is presented in the Prado. To all this should be added the work of the court portrait painters Antonis More van Dashorst (Antonio Moro) and Sánchez Coelho, who created the standard of official portraiture, which portraitists followed until the 18th century, and numerous artists, mostly Italian, who worked on the main project of the era - the decoration of the Escorial monastery.
The second important stage in the history of the Royal Collections was the period of the reign of Philip IV (1621-1665), which coincided with one of the culminating moments in the development of Spanish painting. Philip IV was not only Velazquez's patron, but also a tireless collector, specially commissioning many works for his palaces. Thus, decorative cycles were created for the Torre de la Parada pavilion, in which Rubens and Velazquez took a large part, and for the new Buen Retiro palace. Philip IV was a passionate collector and had a great understanding of art, this is clearly evidenced by the choice of paintings that he made in 1649 during the sale in London of the property of the executed Charles I of England, also a passionate collector. At this auction, Philip IV acquired such masterpieces as “The Death of the Virgin Mary by Mantegna”; "Washing of Tintoretto's feet"; "Self-portrait of Durer"; "The Holy Family, or the Pearl of Raphael"; or "The Finding of Veronese's Moses."
Portrait of Karl 3
After the death of Charles II, the last representative of the Spanish Habsburgs, the change of dynasties also led to a change in artistic tastes. The Bourbons, who became rulers of Spain from 1700, brought with them French artists and a taste for the more classicist Italian style. Philip V bought a significant collection assembled by the artist Carlo Maratta, which included works by Carracci, Sacchi and Poussin. The second wife of Philip V, Isabella Farnese, in turn, added to the Royal Collections paintings by Flemish and Dutch artists of the 17th century, as well as Italian classicists not previously represented in the Collections, for example, Domenichino, Guercino, Guido Reni or Giovanni Battista Crespi (Cerano) ). But still, her most important contribution to the Collection was the purchase, during the stay of the royal court in Seville in 1729-1733, of a large number of paintings by Murillo - an artist whose works until that moment were practically absent from this collection, and thanks to the queen and later Charles who followed her example IV, the work of this master is beautifully presented in the museum. In 1724, Philip V and his wife also bought a collection of sculptures by Queen Christina of Sweden, which decorated her Roman palace in the second half of the 17th century; By adding to this the works of Velázquez, painted in Rome by order of Philip IV, the royal family laid the foundation for the collection of classical sculpture of the Prado Museum. Together with the Bourbons, two of the greatest European representatives of the late Baroque arrived in Spain - Corrado Giaquinto and Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, they were invited to work on decorating the royal palaces. During Tiepolo's stay in Spain, another prominent figure in the artistic world of that time, Anton Raphael Mengs, arrived, who introduced the country to classicist academicism. The reign of Charles IV (1788-1808) was an equally significant moment in the history of the Royal Collections. In addition to the fact that this monarch provided patronage to Goya and Paret, he enriched the collections with works by the Italian classicists Barocci, Andrea del Sarto and Raphael and such Spanish artists as Ribera, Ribalta or Juan de Juanes. Charles IV's heir was his son Ferdinand VII, who, as mentioned above, became the founder of the Prado Museum.
When the museum opened to the public, it exhibited only 311 works, and only by Spanish artists; however, the number of exhibits quickly increased, as, with the support of the king, paintings from the royal palaces began to arrive at the museum. The king continued to pay the costs of the museum, since the institution, although open to the general public, remained a royal property. In the inventory of 1827, the museum already contained 4,000 paintings.
In accordance with the royal status of the museum, its first directors were representatives of the highest nobility associated with court circles. For example, the first director of the museum was the Marquis de Santa Cruz, Minister of the Royal Household and member of the Council of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. In addition, the museum had an art advisor and a chief curator, positions usually held by court artists.
The death of Ferdinand VII (September 29, 1833) caused the first serious crisis in the history of the museum: the king’s will indicated that all his movable property remained at free disposal. This meant that all the works stored in the museum were in danger of being divided between relatives. This question remained in limbo until Isabella II's coming of age was announced, which happened in 1843, when she turned 13 years old. The Queen convened a commission to evaluate the property inherited under the will, and the members of the commission advised her, in order to avoid the division of the artistic heritage, to buy back from her sister, Infanta Maria Luisa Fernanda, objects from the royal palaces she received under her father's will, including some paintings from the museum Prado. Members of the commission also made a proposal to include the Prado Museum in the possession of the crown, in which case it would no longer be considered the personal property of the monarch and the situation with the issue of inheritance would not be repeated; however, this proposal was implemented only in 1865.
Four years after the death of Ferdinand VII, while the question of his will remained unresolved, an event occurred that big role in the future fate of the Prado Museum. On December 31, 1837, the National Museum of Painting and Sculpture was created, the museum was the property of the state, and its name clearly distinguished new museum from Royal. The National Museum, known as the Trinidad Museum because it was housed in the Monastery of the Holy Trinity (Trinidad) on Madrid's Calle Atocha, was created to house and exhibit works of art from the monasteries of the province of Madrid, Toledo, Avila and Segovia, seized in the process of secularization of church property. Works purchased by the state were also sent to the same museum. contemporary art, most often these were works that received prizes at the National Exhibitions of Fine Arts, the first such exhibition was held in 1856 by the Trinidad Museum, unlike the Royal, it was led not by an aristocrat, but by a council of professors. This new approach applied in 1838 at the Royal Museum, appointing artist José de Madrazo as director; Thus began a long period of rule by artistic directors, which lasted until 1960.
In the last third of the 19th century, serious changes occurred in the life of the museum. Firstly, as already mentioned, in 1865 the Prado was included in the possession of the Spanish crown. The museum ceased to be the personal property of the monarch, and this finally freed its exhibits from division between the heirs. Three years after this, the revolution, which dethroned Isabella II and sent her into exile, transferred the ownership of the crown to the state, and the museum became national. From that moment it became clear that there was no point in the existence of two national museums of painting and sculpture in a state that could hardly support one such museum. Therefore, in the same year, the Trinidad Museum was disbanded and its funds were transferred to the Prado Museum, and the problem of lack of space that had existed since the very opening of this museum immediately became fully apparent. In attempts to solve it, new plans were made to expand the museum’s premises and a policy was pursued of temporarily transferring works of art for storage to different places, which led to various difficulties in compiling inventories and storage, which could not be resolved until the last quarter of the 20th century. Other important changes that occurred at the end of the 19th century were, firstly, the approval in 1876 of new regulations of the museum, which, among other things, established that the director of the museum could only be an artist, a member of the Academy of San Fernando and winner of a medal from one of the National Exhibitions of Fine Arts arts, and secondly, the creation in 1894 of the Museum of Modern Art, to which most of the 19th-century works stored in the Prado Museum were transferred.
At the beginning of the 20th century, in 1902, the museum opened the first temporary exhibition demonstrating the works of El Greco. In 1912, in order to improve the maintenance and management of the museum, give it a more scientific character and provide close connection The Royal Board of Trustees was created with the public. Among the council's first initiatives was the establishment of a commission to conduct a complete inventory and inventory of all exhibits in the museum and determine their exact location and condition, and to direct and supervise the work of the first renovation project of the Villanueva building, undertaken in 1914-1923.
The civil war of 1936 brought with it the most serious shock of all, whichI had a chance to survive the Prado: on August 30 this year the museum had to be closed. Shortly before this, the government created a special council with the aim of preserving the works of art collected in the Prado, and even appointed work to protect the building from possible damage. Moreover, on September 20, 1936, in a gesture full of symbolism, the Republican government appointed Pablo Picasso to the post of director of the Prado. Soon after this, the decision was made to transport the most valuable works of the museum, first to Valencia, and later, as hostilities progressed, to Catalonia. In 1939, the International Committee for the Rescue of Treasures of Spanish Art was created, which included experts from different countries. His task was to evacuate the works to Geneva, under the protection of the League of Nations, which was done in February of the same year. Works from the Prado were exhibited in Geneva, and after the end of the war the new government began negotiations to return them to Spain. In May 1939, the first works arrived in Madrid, on July 7 the museum reopened, and in September all museum exhibits were returned s from Switzerland.
Pablo Jimenez Diaz
Magazine number:
Each museum, and especially the national one, is always a kind of history textbook. We come to it to admire the exhibits stored here and, as far as possible, to understand their meaning. However, these are just individual notes that make up a whole melody. You can hear it by imagining the museum as a single whole, sometimes consisting of very different objects - then you will be able to feel the course of history. It's about not only and not even so much about the history of art and artists, but about those people who contemplated these works, classified them and placed them in the halls in a certain order. Wherein great importance had their personal aesthetic perception, as well as life circumstances, society with its form of government and political aspirations, faith, worldview and, perhaps, how their views on the world gradually changed. Collecting various items and the manner in which they are exhibited to the public invariably bears the stamp of their era, and in this sense museums always reflect the passage of time.
Certainly, the national museum is not at all a simple reflection of the totality historical events. And yet, no matter what it is called, a truly national museum is only when it is deeply rooted in the history of the people. Thanks to this, within its walls even silence becomes eloquent, and gaps can tell a lot.
There are relatively few works in the Prado Museum Dutch painting, which in the 17th century wrote a very important chapter in history Western art(although there is “Judith at the Feast of Holofernes” by Rembrandt). At the same time, in its halls there are an unusually large number of paintings by Flemish painters of the 15th-17th centuries. There are also not very many paintings of the Italian Quattrocento, but among them there are true masterpieces, but the section dedicated to Italy of the 16th and 17th centuries is distinguished by amazing quantity and quality, second only to the Spanish part of the museum collection. It is worth noting the outstanding works of French painting of the second half XVII and XVIII centuries. And all this, we emphasize, is most closely connected with the history of Spain.
Therefore, it is not surprising that the Prado National Museum, from the moment of its opening to the present day, has always enjoyed special recognition and authority among all generations of Spanish society. This museum is one of those institutions that constitute the true heart of Spanish culture.
Museum space. Los Jerónimos Monastery, Retiro Palace and Salon del Prado
In 1561, King Philip II decided to move his permanent residence to the small town of Madrid. And this became the starting point for many different transformations, because now the city had to coexist harmoniously with the royal court. In 1570, the architect Juan Bautista de Toledo drew up a plan for the urban development of Madrid. It was implemented to a very small extent, but the very fact of its creation clearly demonstrated the intention to turn the city into a European capital. Of the few completed points of this project, one can name the leveling of the eastern borders of Madrid, as well as the improvement and landscaping of a special recreation area for citizens, which was located immediately outside the city walls - where the streets of Atocha, Huertas and Carrera de San Jeronimo ended. This zone, stretching along the bed of the Fuente Castellana stream that then flowed here, was limited on one side by the fortress wall that surrounded the city, and on the other by the walls of the Los Jerónimos monastery, which stood outside the city limits.
The Jerónimos Monastery was founded by Queen Isabella the Catholic, great-grandmother of Philip II. The design of its building was created by the royal architect Enrique Egasa around 1500. Subsequently, Philip II commissioned Juan Bautista de Toledo to renovate and expand this structure, erecting royal chambers called Cuarto Real: there the king could rest, while at the same time taking part in divine services and monastic life. Since then, the meadow (in Spanish “el prado”) between the monastery and the city wall has become the main recreation area for the inhabitants of Madrid. One way or another, there was always a lively atmosphere here. In the comedies of Lope de Vega and Calderon de la Barca there are a number of scenes, the scene of which is this very meadow.
In 1630, King Philip IV ordered the expansion of the already mentioned Cuarto Real: it turned into an entire palace, called Palacio del Retiro. It joined other royal country residences. The new palace was located very close to the city, and the king, along with his family and courtiers, could hold balls there and then return to spend the night at his permanent residence, the Alcazar. The Palacio del Retiro was of colossal size and, although its architectural merits were highly questionable, it soon became famous for its remarkable collections of paintings, sculptures, tapestries and furniture, as well as its theater and exquisite garden. In this palace, the magnificent Salon de los Reynos (Hall of the Kingdoms) was created, which served simultaneously as a ballroom, for court theatrical performances, and as a throne room. Its decor featured frescoes with grotesque images, it was furnished with luxurious furniture made of jasper, various types of marble and bronze, and it was decorated with a series of twelve large-scale canvases that depicted the victories of the troops of Philip IV (including “The Surrender of Breda” by Velázquez ). To this were added two more series of paintings: ten paintings by Zurbaran on the theme “The Labors of Hercules” and five equestrian portraits of members of the royal family. Today all this is kept in the Prado Museum.
With the advent of the 18th century and the accession of the first representatives of the Bourbon dynasty to the throne, the Retiro Palace experienced a period of unprecedented prosperity. It so happened that on the night of Christmas 1734, a fire broke out in the Alcazar Palace, the old royal residence. And for the next thirty years, while the current Royal Palace was being built, it was the Retiro that was the permanent residence of Kings Philip V, Louis I, Ferdinand VI and Charles III (in the first five years of his reign). However, when Charles III finally moved to the new royal palace, this meant inevitable decline for Retiro.
In 1808, Napoleon made his brother Joseph Bonaparte king of Spain (where he was called José Bonaparte), and for the next four years the Retiro Palace, together with its garden and neighboring buildings, which already included the current building of the Prado Museum, served the French as a military camp and barracks, being a key point of their military strategy for the defense of the city. From the former palace, very little evidence has survived to this day to give an idea of how huge and luxurious the entire palace complex was: these are the Salon de los Reynos and the Cason del Buen Retiro, where the library of the Prado Museum is now located. The ceiling vault of the library during the time of Charles II was decorated with the main symbol of the Habsburg dynasty - the “Allegory of the Order of the Golden Fleece” by Luca Giordano.
The territory of the Retiro garden and the Prado de San Jerónimo meadow survived the war. For this entire part of the city, the reign of Charles III, an enlightened king who remained in popular memory as “the best alcalde of Madrid,” was decisive. Around 1763, the architect José de Hermosilla, famous representative era of Enlightenment and neoclassicism in Spain, began the restoration of the then Prado Viejo zone, which later became known as Salon del Prado. What lay beyond the fortress walls became a landscaped city boulevard with monumental fountains that represented sculptures of the goddess Cybele, Apollo (or the four seasons) and Neptune. They were also joined by the fountains located on Huertas Street and the Alcachofa Fountain at the intersection of the boulevard with Atocha Street. There, at the southern end of the boulevard, according to the design of the architect Hermosilla, a hospital called the Hospital General de la Pasion was erected, thanks to which the city expanded, going beyond the streets of Atocha and Santa Isabel. The construction of this building, which became an architectural symbol of enlightened rationalism, was later continued by the architects Francesco Sabatini and Juan de Villanueva. And two centuries later it turned into the current National Museum - the Reina Sofia Art Center.
In 1767, Charles III opened the picturesque garden of the Retiro Palace to the public, finally transforming it into a city park. At one end of the garden, on a hill located very close to Salon del Prado, the king ordered the construction of an Astronomical Observatory, designed by Juan de Villanueva. Nearby, on the hillside, the Royal Botanical Garden was established in 1781, bordering the Salon del Prado, and nearby a building was erected to house the Royal Cabinet of Natural History and the Royal Academy of Sciences. Thus, parallel to the “boulevard of nature”, which in essence was the Salon del Prado, stretches the “boulevard of science and knowledge” inextricably linked with it.
Building designed by Juan de Villanueva
The construction of the entire complex was entrusted to Juan de Villanueva in 1785. This undoubtedly brilliant architect, educated in Italy, a brilliant draftsman, an outstanding intellectual and a unique figure of the Spanish Enlightenment, created many different structures over the years of his career. However, his name is primarily associated with the historical building that today houses the Prado Museum. On May 30, 1785, Villanueva presented two construction plans, one of them was approved, and construction began on its basis.
The building consists of three compositional parts: the central volume is joined on both sides by a northern wing and a southern wing. The side buildings have a square base and are topped with domed vaults. The central structure is made in the form of a monumental basilica, the axis of which runs perpendicular to the rest of the building. The three spaces are connected by two long galleries.
In 1808, Napoleonic troops under the command of General Murat took refuge in this building. By that time, all three facades and interiors of two floors with vaults, basements and roofs made of lead (later confiscated by the French for the manufacture of ammunition) had already been completed. During the four years of the war the building suffered greatly, but already in 1814 construction works resumed. They were led by Villanueva's student, Antonio Lopez Aguado, who redesigned and strengthened the vaults, removing the load from them, and also added glass lanterns on the upper floor. It soon became clear that there was not enough space here: there was an urgent need to expand the museum space. This task turned out to be difficult and was finally solved in the 21st century, when the remains of the cloister of the former monastery of San Jerónimo and the building of the Casón del Buen Retiro joined the museum.
Royal Collection
Queen Isabella de Braganza, the second wife of King Ferdinand VII, played a major role in the creation of the museum; it was she who became its inspiration and promoted this initiative in every possible way. However, the queen was not destined to see her idea come to life: she died eleven months before the official opening of the museum, which took place on November 19, 1819. In 1829, Bernardo Lopez - son and student famous portrait painter Antonio Lopez Portanyi painted a magnificent posthumous portrait of Isabella. This work is not only a tribute to memory, but also an eloquent testimony to the extremely important role played by the Queen in the history of the Prado Museum.
At the moment grand opening The museum's holdings included 1,626 paintings. Of these, only 311 exhibits were put on public view, which were housed in three halls. The museum opened its doors to visitors on Wednesdays, and on other days, copyists, specialists in the field of fine arts, and those with written permission could come here. In subsequent years, the museum's collection gradually increased. A significant number of works of art were transported here from various royal residences. For example, in 1837, 101 paintings arrived from El Escorial at once: there they were in danger, since the First Carlist War was going on in the country. A few years earlier, the museum had received an even larger collection of paintings from the royal collection, which included images of nude figures. At one time, Charles III separated them into a separate group and was even going to destroy them, but his son Charles IV managed to hide them in the storerooms of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando. Another significant and extraordinary event for its time was the appearance in the museum of the canvas “The Crucifixion of Christ” by Velazquez. It came from the Benedictine convent of San Placido in Madrid, and its owner was the Duke of San Fernando de Quiroga. In 1829, the Duke presented this work to King Ferdinand VII specifically to replenish the museum collection.
The next year after the death of Ferdinand VII, who died in 1833, the first “Inventory and expert review works of painting and sculpture, as well as tables, vases and other objects stored in the Royal Museum." This is the very first complete and detailed description of his collections. The reason for this assessment was a circumstance that was very dangerous for the museum itself. The fact is that his collection was the private property of the deceased monarch and could now be divided between his two daughters and heirs - Queen Isabella II and Infanta Maria Luisa Fernanda. However, fortunately, the royal will stated that the collections were not subject to division. Therefore, in 1845, Queen Isabella, having reached adulthood, paid her sister compensation equal to three-quarters of the estimated value of the collection. Later, in 1865, a law was passed according to which certain property, until then located in private property the queen and what she inherited was declared the property of the Spanish crown and, therefore, became indivisible and inalienable. The law also applied to the Royal Museum of Painting and Sculpture.
A few years later, in September 1868, the so-called Glorious Revolution was victorious in Spain, marking the beginning of the Six Years of Democracy. This was the first attempt in the country's history to establish a democratic and parliamentary political system. The queen was overthrown and expelled from the country, and the royal property was declared the property of the state. Then the museum began to be called the National Museum of Painting and Sculpture, and it no longer received visitors only on Sundays and holidays, as before, but five days a week.
In 1870, the museum's collections received cardboards by Goya, Bayeu and Castillo, intended for the manufacture of tapestries (previously they were stored in the basements of the Royal Palace and were repeatedly the subject of theft). This was the last large-scale acquisition for the museum and the most significant in terms of both quantity and quality. It was about the ancient royal collection, which two dynasties of monarchs who were fond of fine arts, and especially painting, had collected over the previous four centuries.
The personal art collection of the kings, two of whom, Philip II and Philip IV, not only loved painting, but were also well versed in it, had a pronounced courtly, palace character. Therefore, the collection was special, to some extent incomplete: it reflected the tastes of its owners - refined, but no less subjective. A special group here consists of ceremonial portraits, which began with Titian, who created such brilliant works as “Emperor Charles V at the Battle of Mühlberg” and “Portrait of Charles V with a Dog.” These paintings set a special, incomparable line in Spanish court portraiture, which found its highest expression in the masterpieces of Velazquez. King Philip II became Titian's main customer and patron. Of the many paintings painted by the artist at the request of the monarch, the Prado Museum houses two canvases from the cycle on the theme of Ovid’s poem “Metamorphoses”: “Danae and the Golden Shower” and “Venus and Adonis”. These are joined by a significant number of portraits, allegorical images and religious paintings, making this museum the main source for the study of the mature work of the brilliant Venetian artist. The passion of Philip II played an important role in the subsequent development of fine art in Spain. Flemish painting: the works of Van der Weyden, Patinir and Bosch he collected became real landmarks in this sense. And the works of Antonis Mora and Titian served as the basis for the tradition of Spanish court portraiture.
The artistic tastes of Philip II, firmly associated with the richness of colors of the Venetian and Flemish schools, later influenced the choice of his grandson, Philip IV, one of the most enthusiastic collectors in Europe, who was distinguished by brilliant education and erudition. To decorate the palaces, the Royal Alcazar, the Retiro, and the palace-type mansions, Torre de la Parada and Zarzuela, he used the services of Rubens, his court artist Velazquez, Flemish painters, including Van Dyck, and Italian masters of the time, for example, Guido Reni , who worked in Italy Poussin and Claude Lorrain, as well as the Spaniard Jose de Ribera. The latter occupied a prominent place in the artistic panorama of Naples, which was then under Spanish rule. In addition, the king acquired outstanding works of the Italian Renaissance by Raphael and especially Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese and other Venetians. “Bacchanalia on the Island of Andros” and “Adoration of Venus” by Titian, “Touch Me Not” by Correggio, “Bringing to the Temple” by Veronese, paired paintings “Adam” and “Eve” by Durer - these are just a few of the most outstanding examples. The son of this king, Charles II, not too kindly by fate in many ways, having inherited the Spanish throne, was well aware of the importance art collection, which became one of the symbols of the Spanish crown. He carefully preserved it and enriched it, mainly due to the works of great painters who worked at his court: Juan Carreño de Miranda (his works include the magnificent “Portrait of Russian ambassador Peter Ivanovich Potemkin"), Claudio Coelho and Luca Giordano.
At the very beginning of the 18th century, the ruling dynasty changed in Spain, and royal art collections began to develop in a new direction. Philip V and his wife Isabella de Farnese, who had a clear penchant for classicism, acquired two large collections antique sculpture: one of them formerly belonged to Queen Christina of Sweden, and the other was collected by the 7th Marquis de Carpio in Naples and Rome. The new royal couple also made a rich contribution to the painting collection of the Spanish crown, adding to it mainly works by artists of Italian classicism: the Carracci brothers, Orazio Gentileschi, Carlo Maratta and Nicolas Poussin, who was then working in Italy, as well as portraits by court painters who arrived from France - Michel-Ange Wass, Jean Ranque and Louis-Michel van Loo. From this monarch, the Spanish crown received the extremely valuable “Treasure of the Dauphin” - a magnificent collection of 169 objects from the 16th - 17th centuries, including glasses, wine glasses, dishes and cutlery made of crystal and precious materials. It was inherited from his father, Louis, “Grand Dauphin of France.”
An equally important contribution to the development of the art collection was made by King Charles III, who, before inheriting the Spanish crown, was Duke of Parma and then King of Naples. During the reign of this highly educated monarch, paintings by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo and Anton Raphael Mengs arrived in Spain, which became a reference point for the development of Spanish painting until the end of the 18th century, the royal tapestry manufactory, for which Francisco de Goya created cardboards at a certain period. Extensive royal collection included works by painters of the 17th century who painted their paintings in the style of classicism (Van Dyck, Andrea Vaccaro and others), as well as paintings by Dutch masters, which became a novelty in the artistic collection of the Spanish kings. Among the works of the Dutch, the only masterpiece kept in the Prado Museum by Rembrandt, “Judith at the Feast of Holofernes,” stands out. This is complemented by the remarkable creations of Spanish painters of the 17th century, including works by Velazquez, Ribera and Murillo.
An equally brilliant role was played in the development of the artistic collection of the Spanish crown (which cannot be said about other areas) by the son of this king, Charles IV. His collection was distinguished by its eclecticism, but all the items in it were well selected and stood out not only for their abundance, but also for their highest value. In addition to paintings, it included tapestries, porcelain, sculptures, bronzes, books and musical instruments. Charles IV commissioned paintings from such magnificent Spanish artists at that time, like Luis Melendez and Luis Paret y Alcazar. In his rich collection, the “Portrait of a Cardinal” stands out, a masterpiece created by Raphael in the mature period of his work. However, the main thing that the collection of paintings of Charles IV is famous for today is the works of Francisco de Goya, whom the king made his court artist.
Trinidad Museum
The second significant source from which the collection of the Prado Museum originates is the Trinidad Museum.
In 1836, Minister Juan Alvarez Mendizábal signed a series of decrees according to which religious orders were abolished in Spain, and their property, movable and immovable, was expropriated by the state. Provincial deputations were entrusted with the implementation of these decrees, but at the same time, under the auspices of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, a special Confiscation Council was established. He had several commissions that traveled around the country and ensured that confiscated works of art were sent to Madrid, where it was planned to create the National Museum of Painting and Sculpture.
The museum opened its doors to the public on July 24, 1838 in the Trinidad Calzada monastery on Atocha Street in Madrid, also alienated according to the already mentioned decree. In fact, it was possible to collect here only part of the confiscated items brought from a number of central provinces of the country: Madrid, Avila, Segovia, Toledo, Valladolid and Burgos. Naturally, all these works of painting were distinguished almost exclusively by religious themes. Behind a short time During the existence of the museum, due to financial difficulties, it was not possible to ensure the fulfillment of even the minimum requirements for the content of exhibits.
His collection, highly varied in quality, included some of the masterpieces today housed in the Prado Museum. For example, the exceptional pictorial ensemble created by El Greco for the main retablo of the church of the conventual college of Doña Maria of Aragon in Madrid. These works by the brilliant artist, born on the island of Crete, played an important role in his work, marking the final turn towards a more mature and deeply personal style of painting. You can also call “The Triumph of St. Augustine” - a masterpiece by Claudio Coelho and one of the peaks of the inspired Baroque of the second half of the 17th century. Particularly noteworthy is the dramatic statue of the Penitent Mary Magdalene by Pedro de Mena, which comes from the Jesuit Church in Madrid.
In 1868, a revolution took place in the country, and on November 25, 1870, the government issued a decree merging the Trinidad Museum and the Prado Museum into one institution, which became known as the National Museum. However, this initiative was not accompanied by the necessary measures to ensure its activities. Meanwhile, the new museum needed premises; V exhibition halls and the storerooms did not have all the conditions for storing funds; there were not enough financial, material and human resources. Therefore, when 1,733 objects were immediately received into the already overloaded storerooms, serious problems arose with preservation, placement and even safety: they remained in the Prado Museum for long period time.
It was then that a solution was found, which over the years further history museum was used repeatedly and quite often. A significant number of works of art began to be transferred for storage to various provincial museums, official bodies, government institutions and charitable foundations scattered throughout the country, as well as to the very monasteries from which they originated. This is how a concept called “Prado disperso” (that is, the Prado Museum scattered throughout the country) was born. About 3,000 of a wide variety of works, including those of exceptional artistic value, for example, “The Deceased Christ” by Gregorio Fernandez, are today in the National Museum of Sculpture in Valladolid. Another series of paintings created by Vicente Carduccio for the Carthusian monastery of Paular in the village of Rascafria near Madrid was recently returned there after restoration in the museum workshops.
New acquisitions. Prado Museum in the 20th century
Since the establishment of the Prado National Museum, a third group of works of art gradually began to form here, which was called “New Acquisitions”. Unlike the two earlier parts of the collection, these came from the very different sources. The only thing they have in common is the date of their entry into the museum after 1871. This includes, first of all, the award-winning exhibits of the National Exhibitions of Painting and Sculpture, which began to be held in 1856. The state bought these best works and sent them to the Trinidad Museum until 1871, and subsequently to the Prado Museum. In 1894, the Museum of Modern Art was created, and the 19th-century works housed in the Prado Museum were assigned to this new institution. However, in 1971 they returned here again. By that time, the Museum of Contemporary Art had not existed for twenty years, and in its place there was a new Spanish Museum of Contemporary Art (the immediate predecessor of the current National Museum - the Reina Sofia Center for the Arts). It was then decided to divide the existing collections and, in particular, to return works dating back to the 19th century to the Prado. Together with other items acquired through various channels, they form a fairly complete and extensive collection of 19th-century painting, mainly Spanish. It should be noted that the Prado Museum played a very important role in the development of Spanish fine art of that period. Let's look, for example, at such outstanding and so different paintings, like “Isabella the Catholic Dictates Her Will” by Eduardo Rosales or “The Execution of General Torrijas and His Companions on the Beach in Malaga” by Antonio Gisbert. They clearly demonstrate masterful composition, the ability to convey a psychological portrait, and especially skillful use of the color palette as a means of creating general atmosphere. All this is undoubtedly due to the genius of the authors, but also to the conscientious study of the works of Velázquez and Goya exhibited at the Prado Museum.
In addition to this group of works of art, the collection of the “New Acquisitions” section was gradually replenished through bequests, donations and purchases. In this case, either the museum itself or the Spanish state acted as the buyer, which then transferred them to the museum collection. And starting in 1980, the newly created Foundation of Friends of the Prado Museum joined the work. One way or another, new arrivals today account for about 20 percent of all items stored here. And this is certainly admirable, given that the Spanish government, as a rule, does not show much interest in private individuals bequeathing or donating their collections to the museum. We should also not forget that the museum is forced to constantly work in conditions of austerity, and sometimes endure outright poverty. It is impossible to summarize here in a nutshell the entire history of new acquisitions, which came literally drop by drop. Therefore, we will limit ourselves to mentioning some of the most notable receipts.
Among the very first major gifts (and also among the most important), the so-called “Gloomy Paintings” by Francisco de Goya, which were donated to the museum by Baron Frederic Emile d'Erlanger, stand out. These were wall paintings created by the artist in his own house in the vicinity of Madrid , called Quinta del Sordo ("Estate of the Deaf"), he lived there before leaving for France in 1824, hiding from possible persecution by the new government. D'Erlanger bought the estate in 1873 and instructed the craftsmen to move the paintings. , which were not in the best condition, from the walls to canvases. The baron put up fourteen of the resulting paintings for sale during the World Exhibition in Paris, held at the Trocadéro Palace in 1878. However, to the surprise of this banker and keen art connoisseur, there was no buyer for them. So finally, in 1881, he donated them to the Spanish state specifically for the Prado Museum. Here they also did not receive a very high rating and were put on public display only in 1890.
The fate of this series, truly unique in the history of Western painting, indicates that Goya’s art was not immediately accepted and understood: this process turned out to be difficult and long, not only at the international level, but also in Spain itself. Suffice it to say that until that moment the work of the brilliant artist was represented in the museum’s halls very little. Although then, throughout the twentieth century, mainly thanks to purchases and donations, more and more new works by Goya arrived here, so that they gradually formed the core of the collection. Currently, the Prado Museum contains more than half of all the numerous works of this painter known to us.
The history of museum receipts received as a gift or bequest also reflected the development of the country as a whole. So, at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century main role Representatives of the highest aristocracy played a role in this process: thanks to them, large family collections arrived at the museum, including both real masterpieces and minor works. The most outstanding examples include the gift of Maria Dionysia Vives and Sires, Dowager Duchess of Pastrana, in 1889 - more than two hundred works of art, among which the group of Rubens' commissioned sketches for the Pavilion of Torre de la Parada stands out. King Philip IV. In 1894, the Dowager Marquise de Cabrignana donated 26 paintings to the museum, including Hans Memling's Madonna and Child with Angels, a beautiful creation executed on panel. And in 1905, the Duchess de Villahermosa changed her mind about selling two canvases by Velázquez and donated them to the museum “so that they would not leave the territory of Spain.” However, already at the beginning of the new century, large entrepreneurial collectors confidently appeared on the scene. One of them, a Mexican of Basque origin, Ramon de Herrazu, who was educated and settled in Paris, bequeathed twenty-five magnificent paintings to the museum in 1904. works XIX century.
After the restoration of the monarchy, when the Bourbon dynasty reigned again on the throne, one of the most important events in the history of the museum was the creation in 1912 of a collegial governing body - the Royal Board of Trustees of the National Museum of Painting and Sculpture, which in 1920 was officially renamed the National Prado Museum. The Council played a vital role in the process of transforming this institution into a historical and artistic research center. Previously, according to tradition, it was believed that the director here should be an artist, but now, in order to take this position, one had to have knowledge of art history.
In 1915, the Catalan financier Pablo Bosc, who was on the board of trustees, bequeathed to the museum more than ninety works of Flemish and Spanish painting, a magnificent collection of medals from all over Europe dating from the 15th to 19th centuries, another collection of 946 coins, as well as a significant sum of money. No less impressive was the contribution of Pedro Fernandez Duran, who donated and bequeathed paintings by Flemish and Spanish masters, including Van der Weyden, Morales and Goya, almost 2800 drawings of various European schools XV-XIX centuries, many sculptures, furniture, armor, tapestries and fabrics.
The military mutiny of July 18, 1936 marked the starting point of one of the most tragic periods in Spanish history. The outbreak of the Civil War lasted three years, and almost all this time the capital was under siege. Due to prolonged and intense bombing, its cultural heritage and, in particular, the Prado Museum were in danger. On November 5, 1936, the government ordered all the masterpieces stored there to be transported to Valencia. The operation lasted until February 1938: in twenty-two flights, 391 paintings, 181 drawings by Goya and the entire “Dauphine’s Treasure” were removed from Madrid. From Valencia in March 1938, all this was transported to Barcelona, damaging two large-scale paintings by Goya on the way: “The Execution of the Rebels in Moncloa” and “The Uprising of May 2, 1808 in Madrid”, while the latter suffered more seriously. Then the collection's path lay towards the French border, on the outskirts of which it was handed over to representatives of the International Committee for the Rescue of Treasures of Spanish Art. The priceless creations were evacuated to the headquarters of the League of Nations in Geneva, where they arrived on February 14, 1939. And on March 30, the day before the end of the Civil War, the League of Nations returned them to the new Spanish government, which almost immediately allowed an exhibition of masterpieces from the Prado Museum to be organized at the Geneva Museum of Art and History in July and August. Visitors were offered masterpieces by Velazquez, Goya, El Greco, Titian, Bosch, Durer and others. Thus, the most dangerous period in the entire history of the Prado Museum ended with one of the most significant events in history European culture and museums of the twentieth century. On September 5, two days after the outbreak of World War II, the works of art were sent back home to Madrid.
Soon after this, the Prado Museum received two donations in which everything was exceptional: the personalities of the donors, the quality of the donated works, and the surrounding circumstances. A Mexican artist and entrepreneur who owned his own gallery donated seven antique sculptures to add to the museum's limited but excellent collection of classical sculpture. And two years earlier, Francesc Cambo, an entrepreneur, lawyer, politician and supporter of Catalan autonomy who found himself in exile, donated and sent from Switzerland eight picturesque creations of the Italian trecento and quattrocento, written on boards (among them, three from the series “The Novella of Nastagio” stand out). degli Onesti" by Botticelli), as well as magnificent still life Francisco de Zurbaran.
Another significant fact: in 1943, from the funds of the National Heritage of Spain, the museum received three masterpieces from the collection of Philip II and one from the art collection of Philip IV. All of them were kept in the El Escorial monastery, and during the Republic era they were actually transported to the museum. These are Bosch’s masterpieces - a table depicting “The Seven Deadly Sins” and the triptych “The Garden of Delights”, as well as “The Descent from the Cross”, which became the pinnacle of Rogier van der Weyden’s work, and one of the main works of the young Tintoretto, “The Washing of the Feet”.
In 1947, the Prado Museum received very important exhibits - Romanesque wall paintings transferred from the Maderuelo Chapel. They belong to a period in the history of art that has not yet been represented in the museum. In 1957, six Romanesque frescoes from the Church of San Baudelio de Berlanga were added; in 1922, they were separated from the walls and illegally exported to the United States. They returned to Spain thanks to an agreement with the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art on the exchange of exhibits from the permanent collections. In the following decades, very few new objects arrived at the Prado Museum, among which we can highlight the work of Antonello da Messina “Dead Christ supported by an angel”, executed on panel - without a doubt one of the masterpieces of the collection.
In 1981, one of the symbolic events in the history of Spain of the twentieth century took place: Picasso’s “Guernica” arrived at the Prado Museum, and with it 63 sketches and preparatory drawing. These were soon supplemented by other works by Picasso and Juan Gris, donated to the museum by Douglas Cooper, and paintings by Joan Miró from the artist’s widow. All of them were exhibited in the Casón del Buen Retiro building, joining the 19th-century collection.
Picasso painted Guernica commissioned by the Republican government for the Spanish pavilion at the 1937 Paris World Exhibition. After the end of the Civil War, the artist, who was a member of both the French and Spanish communist parties, decided to place the painting in storage at the New York Museum of Modern Art. Picasso did not deny that the legal owner of Guernica was the Spanish government, and personally wanted it to eventually end up in the Prado Museum. However, he ordered that the canvas not cross the border of Spain until a democratic form of government was established here. The arrival of this 20th century European icon therefore had symbolic significance, marking a complete change in the country's historical course in the last third of the 20th century. Later painting was transferred to the fund of the National Museum - Reina Sofia Art Center.
One more acquisition stands out in particular, both in terms of its value and the way it ended up in the museum. We are talking about the “Portrait of the Marquise of Santa Cruz” by Francisco de Goya, illegally exported from Spain in 1983 and put up for auction in 1985. The Spanish state managed to stop the sale of the portrait at Christie's London auction. After paying the owner $6 million, raised with widespread public support in Spain, the portrait was returned and exhibited at the Prado Museum.
Even in such extreme brief description In the history of the museum, one cannot fail to mention Manuel Villaescus. This Madrid lawyer and entrepreneur, who died in 1991, bequeathed his entire fortune to the museum, including real estate and business interests, with the understanding that the funds would be used to purchase first-class works of world art. The inheritance turned out to be so significant that a special commission had to be created to study the possibilities of acquiring artifacts. Taking advantage of his inheritance, the Prado Museum acquired more than two hundred paintings, drawings and engravings over the following years, until 1998.
It is also worth mentioning the Servello Library, which came into the museum’s collections in 2002 thanks to a well-chosen combination - a combination of purchase and donation. The library includes more than two thousand valuable books from the 16th-19th centuries, and it was collected by José Maria Cervello. Having become a true example of a modern humanist, Servello collected it from youth with the intention of someday donating these volumes to the Prado Museum.
Despite the fact that Spanish financial legislation has to date provided very few benefits and incentives, the Prado Museum continues to benefit from the generosity of private individuals, periodically receiving works of art as donations. IN Lately the most important were those from the Marquise Balboa in 2002, from the Barcelona entrepreneur José Luis Vares Fiza, and most recently from Placido Arango. Vares Fisa in 2013 donated to the museum twelve paintings belonging to the Romanesque and Gothic styles, the Spanish-Flemish school and the Castilian Renaissance, as well as two Gothic sculptures and a large coffered ceiling dating from approximately 1400. All this was in addition to two other significant works that the businessman had donated to the museum in previous years. From his own collection comes one of the last major purchases of the Prado Museum - the exceptional “Sarsoso Triptych” from an artistic point of view. For his part, Placido Arango in June 2015 donated 24 paintings from his collection of Spanish paintings of the 16th to 19th centuries to the museum.
And finally, in conclusion, it is worth at least briefly mentioning such purchases as “Portrait of the Countess de Chinchon” by Francisco de Goya, acquired in 2000 (partly thanks to the last remaining funds bequeathed by Villaescusa), Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s “Wine in Martin's Day" and, most recently, the small plaque "Prayer in the Garden", created by Colart de Laon around 1405, is a world-class French Gothic masterpiece.
