The Prado Museum Author:Santiago Alcolea Blanch, Santiago Alcolea Renowned as the largest art gallery in the world, the Prado houses sculptures, drawings, coins, and other works of art--but it is its incomparable collection of paintings which has drawn fame worldwide. Included in its store of more than 8,600 paintings are works by members of the Italian, Flemish, Spanish, French, Dutch, and German schools. Alb... more »recht Dürer, Anton van Dyck, Correggio, El Greco, Goya, Hieronymous Bosch, José de Ribera, Lucas Cranach, Nicolas Poussin, Pieter Brueghel, Rafael, Rembrandt, Rogier van der Veyden, Rubens, Sandro Botticelli, Tiepolo, Tintoretto, Tiziano, Velázquez, and nearly every other master painter from the 12th to the 20th century. The history of the Prado began during the reign of Charles III, when he tried to create a single collection under one roof, but it did not really concretize as an institution until the reign of Fernando VII, under whom the Royal Museum of Painting and Sculpture was founded in 1819. King Fernando's death caused inheritance problems and endangered the unity of the collection, but with the disapearance of the Spanish monarchy, the museum became national property and was renamed the Prado Museum. Only a tenth of the Prado's immense collection of works are normally on show at any one time in the museum's two buildings: the Villanueva and the Casón del Buen Retiro, but this will soon change. Architect Rafael Moneo has designed a plan to join the existing neo-classical building with two nearby historical buildings, the cloister of the San Jerónimo church and a 17th-century palace, by buried passageways, and has included a 400-seat underground auditorium as well. Completion of the project is scheduled for October 2003. Edited by Santiago Alcolea. Clothbound, 416 pages, 318 color and 24 b&w images.« less