Museo del Prado

The Museo del Prado is Spain’s national art museum in Madrid, founded in 1819 and housed in the neoclassical Villanueva building. Its core holdings concentrate on European painting with particularly important Spanish collections.

Galleries are organized to show chronological and regional developments, with concentrated displays of works by Velázquez, Goya, El Greco, Bosch and Titian among others; many rooms contain canonical masterpieces that draw most visitors. The museum also hosts rotating temporary exhibitions, a library and conservation laboratories that support research and loans.

Large-scale rehousing and expansion projects in recent decades have added satellite galleries and more exhibition space, but the Villanueva building remains the principal public face. Visitor services and timed-entry tickets are used to manage demand for the most visited rooms.

Originally designed as a gallery for the royal collection, the building by architect Juan de Villanueva dates from the late 18th century; the Prado opened to the public in 1819 and became the national museum for Spanish fine arts. The collection has grown through royal donations, purchases and transfers over the 19th and 20th centuries.

The museum sits on the Paseo del Prado in central Madrid, adjoining Madrid’s so-called Golden Triangle of Art alongside other major institutions and close to central boulevards and parks.

• Foundation and strengths: Founded as a national museum in 1819, the collection focuses on European painting from the 12th to the early 20th century with strong Spanish holdings by Velázquez and Goya.

What to See #

• Villanueva Building: The original Villanueva building that houses the core galleries and permanent collection, designed in the late 18th century and opened as a public museum in 1819.
• Masterpiece galleries: Major painting galleries that present works by Velázquez, Goya, El Greco, Bosch and Rubens among others, arranged chronologically and by school.
• Temporary exhibition spaces: Temporary exhibition halls and study rooms used for rotating exhibits, research and conservation projects within the museum complex.