Spain in the Mirror of the Museo del Prado

The Museo del Prado preserves the national cultural code and reflects the different stages of Spanish history. The museum’s collection contains masterpieces by artists favored by the Spanish monarchs who had great intuition and refined taste, while also highlighting their supreme power. The Prado is a world leader by the intense concentration of masterpieces of European art in the museum space. The Prado has the world’s finest collection of Bosch, Patinir, Jan Brueghel the Elder, David Teniers, Rubens, Titian, Bassano and, naturally, great Spanish artists, such as El Greco, Velázquez, Ribera, Murillo, Zurbarán and Goya. The Prado’s collection is mindful and well-considered, with strong internal connections and paintings by artists who inspired one another. The placement of pictures in the rooms and the «dialogue» between the works helps to create «supraintentional» scenarios and stories. The museum’s unique and impressive metaphysical structure has developed gradually and unintentionally. The similarity between genres, themes and plots allows us to perceive the evolution of styles and the particular characteristics that define the work of genius artists. The museum’s approach to expanding its collection is intensive rather than extensive: since the beginning of the 20th century, when the museum’s Board of Trustees began to function and a team of professional curators was formed, the Prado has sought to fill the gaps in the collection and to complete the historical «blocks» of paintings, while the essence of the collection has not changed. The Prado remains «static» in time, yet it is a modern institution that continues to evolve in the creative space and successfully organize large-scale innovative projects.

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2. Pigariova T.I. (2022) Ispaniya ot I do Ya [Spain from S to N], Moscow, Slovo, 440 p. (In Russian)

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4. Checa Cremades F. (2013) Tiziano y las cortes del Renacimiento [Titian and the Renaissance Courts], Madrid, Marcial Pons Historia, 528 p. (In Spanish)

5. D’Ors E. (2004) Tres horas en el Museo del Prado [Three hours at the Prado Museum], Madrid, Editorial Tecnos, 344 p. (In Spanish)

6. Juanes J., Cuesta L.J., Codding M.A. (2018) Tesoros de la Hispanic Society of America [Treasures of the Hispanic Society of America], Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes, INBAL, Fundación Jenkins, Ediciones El Viso, 448 p. (In Spanish)

7. Portús Pérez J. (coord.) (2018) Museo del Prado, 1819–2019. Un lugar de memoria. [Prado Museum, 1819–2019. A place of memory] Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, 304 p. (In Spanish)