The Prado Guide

Előszó

The Museo del Prado is considered by many to be the greatest public collection ot paintings in the world. From the time of its foundation in 1819 the Museum attracted to Madrid the most refined and sensitive art lovers of the i9th century. In the Prado's tranquil galleries they discovered Velázquez and Goya and through them the entire Spanish School, which from that point onwards enjoyed a new esteem among critics and art historians worldwide. In addition to the key works by those painters, to whose list of names we should add El Greco, the Museum alsó houses extremely important holdings of the work of other European artists as a result of the collecting interests of the Spanish monarchy. It is consequently impossible to gain a profound knowledge of the work of Titian, Rubens or Bosch without visiting this venerable institution. During the course of its existence and over the almost two hundred years that have passed since 1819, the Museo del Prado has been able to reinforce its collections to a significant degree, becoming one of the most established and highly appreciated institutions of its kind in Europe. For this reason, and bearing in mind the importance of its historical roots in the formation of its collections, the Museum is fully aware that its story is an ongoing one, with a marked emphasis on the future to come. This was demonstrated in 2007 with the inauguration of a new, modern building that has given the Prado the installations and services required by major museums in the 2ist century. It is alsó demonstrated through the publication presented here. Over the course of its history the Prado has produced many notable publications. Despite this, it has lacked an official guide to its collections of the type published by many of the principal museums in Europe and America over the past few decades with the aim of summarising the most important works in their collections in a single volume. Like those guides, the present volume aims to be of use to the non-specialist visitor and to bring the Museum closer to an ever broader public and one increasingly interested in obtaining clear, precise information on the works in the Prado's collections. Given the rangé and quality of the collections housed by the Prado, the selection of works in this guide can only represent a summary from which somé important paintings have inevitably had to be excluded. Nonetheless, we are confident that the final result offers an exact portrait of a Museum whose Vissza