The Prado Museum, which is about to celebrate its bicentennial year, is located along one of the most-visited tourist routes in the city: the Paseo del Arte(the Art Walk). The gallery is home to masterpieces from the Spanish, Italian and Flemish schools, including Velazquez's Las Meninas and Los fusilamientos del 3 de mayo (The Third of May) by Goya. The Prado houses a valuable collection of 8,600 paintings and more than 700 sculptures. It is recommended to consult a museum guide and prepare your itinerary before visiting the museum.
The Prado Museum has the most comprehensive collection of Spanish paintings in the world. Visitors can begin their visit in the 11thcentury, observing the Mozarabic wallsof San Baudelio de Berlanga church. Following this, we have the works of Bartolomé Bermejo, Pedro Berruguete, Juan de Juanes and Luis de Morales, which cover Spanish-Flemish Gothic style to the Renaissance. The rooms dedicated to El Grecocontain some of the painter's most well-known works, including The Nobleman with his Hand on his Chestand The Holy Trinity.
The Spanish Golden Ageis well-represented with works by Ribera, Zurbarán and Murillo, which help us to understand the context in which the paintings of Velázquezemerged. The painter's most famous works, Las Meninas and Las Hilanderas (The Spinners), are hung in the museum. The rooms dedicated to Goyacover the 18thand 19thcenturies, and show multiple works including the cartoons he painted for the Royal Tapestry Factory and Las pinturas negras(the Black Paintings), which covered the walls of his home, La Quinta del Sordo. Other rooms of 19thcentury painting include works by Fortuny, los Madrazo and Sorolla.
