When it opened on November 19, 1819, The Museo del Prado, in Madrid,
consisted entirely of works from the Spanish royal collections. Numerous
treasures have been added since opening day, but the unique strengths of
the Prado's collection can still be traced to that original core of
remarkable works?many acquired or commissioned from the artists
themselves during the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth
centuries.
The Prado is internationally renowned for its unsurpassed collection of
masterpieces by Diego Velázquez, Francisco de Goya, Hieronymus Bosch, El
Greco, and Peter Paul Rubens. As this richly illustrated little volume
makes clear, it also possesses a brilliant collection of paintings and
drawings by other artists throughout Europe as well as fascinating
decorative arts and notable sculptures.