It’s time to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the famous Museo del Prado. It is an art museum which is located in Madrid. The importance and value of this museum can be clarified from the fact that even Google celebrated the 200th anniversary of this museum with a Doodle sign on its main homepage. Being a well-known Spanish art museum, there are quite a few interesting points which you should know about this fantastic art museum.
Historical Background of Museo del Prado
The talented architecture Juan de Villanueva designed this art museum building in the year 1785. This building was constructed to be used as the main House of History Cabinet ordered by King Charles III. But at the end of the day, it was announced that the building would be used as the main museum to display art and sculptures.
This royal museum was firstly named as the National Museum of Paintings and Sculptures. Later on, its name was changed into Museo del Prado. In 1819 during November, it was opened for the first time for public use. Its first catalog was displayed in 1819, which was based on 300 paintings.
When it was constructed for the first time, it was not a museum. When the construction was finished, it was announced that the building would be used as the main centerpiece of natural sciences. Until the year 1819, the building was not opened for public concerns. The museum has taken into account maximum paintings and artwork sculptures from the donations. According to the official website of Museo del Prado, the museum contains almost 2300 paintings, print work, drawings, and decorative pieces of cultural artwork.
Most of the art pieces have been collected through donations. The total number of the collection has been so much large that just the 1/7th portion of the museum is being used for displaying art at the current time. The collection of display artwork is incredibly vast; therefore just a small portion of the museum is being utilized for displaying the art. Some of the reputable artists who have featured their artwork in the museum are Francisco Goya, famous El Greco as well as Diego Velázquez.
Part Of Golden Art Triangle
Museo del Prado has made itself to be part of the three most famous museums in Madrid, which is associated with the Golden Triangle of Art. The rest of the two famous museums is the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum as well as Museo Reina Sofia.
Museo del Prado Is Based On Spanish Arts
When Museo del Prado presented their first catalog in the year 1819, it was based on 300 paintings, and all of them were Spanish artwork. Hence there were so many other paintings works as well, but still, the main museum center of attraction was Spanish art.
List of Artists Who Presented Their Art
Museo del Prado is the homeland of some famous artists who presented their classy and masterpieces of artwork and paintings for the museum. Some of the famous artists are:
- Peter Paul Rubens,
- Francisco de Goya
- Pieter Bruegel, the Elder
- Raphael.
- Francisco de Zurbaran
- Velazquez
- El Greco
- Hieronymus Bosch
- Paolo Veronese
- Murillo
- Claude Lorrain
- Antoine Watteau
- Jose de Ribera
The New Wing of the Museum has also been designed by Rafael Moneo, which was finished in 2007. This new wing was constructed on the area of 235,000 sq. Ft. over the Museo Nacional Del Prado.
Most of the art pieces have been collected through donations. The total number of the collection has been so much large that just the 1/7th portion of the museum is being used for displaying art at the current time. In this entire museum, you can encounter a maximum of 7,000 paintings along with 8,000 drawings and 1000 sculptures. Apart from it, they often display some fantastic historical documents and creative masterpieces.
The collection of display artwork is incredibly vast, therefore just a small portion of the museum is being utilized for displaying the art. In the year 212, almost 1300 art pieces were showcased in the main building area of the museum, whereas 3000 creative pieces are still in storage, which will be put on display in the coming years.
