Paint
With almost 4,900 pieces, the Spanish painting section is not only the most complete and extensive in the museum, constituting the central core of its funds, but it also represents the most numerically and qualitatively important collection of this school that exists in the world.[106] Chronologically it ranges from Romanesque murals of the 19th century to the early years of the 20th century.
Its rich collections include Gothic painting, from anonymous masters to authors such as Juan Rodríguez de Toledo, Nicolás Francés, Pedro Berruguete and the Hispanic Flemish Diego de la Cruz, Juan de Flandes and Fernando Gallego and in the area of the Crown of Aragon Jaume Serra, Lluís Borrassà, Jaume Huguet, Pere Lembrí, Miguel Ximénez "Miguel Ximénez (painter)"), Bartolomé Bermejo, Martín Bernat, Rodrigo and Francisco de Osona, Joan Reixach or Jacomart; the Spanish Renaissance, represented by Pedro Machuca, Alonso Berruguete, Juan de Juanes, Fernando Yáñez de la Almedina, Hernando Llanos or Juan Correa de Vivar; and Mannerism, with Luis de Morales, Blas de Prado, Pedro de Campaña and the absolute prominence of El Greco, of which the largest group of works of any that exist is exhibited, including some of the most relevant.
The period of greatest brilliance of Spanish painting, the Baroque, has excellent examples of practically all the authors and genres of the moment, such as Zurbarán, Ribera, Murillo, Juan de Valdés Leal, Maíno, Alonso Cano, Carreño, Ribalta, José Antolínez, Antonio de Pereda, Francisco Rizi, Herrera el Mozo, Juan Sánchez Cotán, Claudio Coello and, above all of them, the great master of painting Hispanic, Velázquez, the "king" of the museum in the words of the 19th century French critic Athanase-Louis Torterat, Count Clément de Ris,[107] of which a collection unparalleled in the world is exhibited, made up of most of his masterpieces.
From the 19th century, Goya's very extensive collection stands out, which includes all the periods and facets of his art, with a total of one hundred and thirty-three paintings,[108][109][note 7] some of disputed authorship, to which another three received in deposit. Also relevant are the still lifes of Luis Meléndez and the varied collection of Luis Paret, considered the best Spanish painter of the Rococo style.
The collection of paintings of the century is delimited by the figures of Goya and Picasso. With some exceptions, the works of authors who died after 1828, the year of the Fuendetodino's death, are considered to be part of it, while those of those born after 1881, the year of the birth of the man from Malaga, were assigned to the MNCARS by Royal Decree 410/1995, of March 17.[110] The General Catalog of 19th-century painting in the Prado Museum, in 2015, it collected a total of two thousand six hundred and ninety records,[111] including the meager collections of foreign schools.
The process of enhancing this collection culminated with the opening in October 2009 of twelve rooms in the Villanueva building, which housed one hundred and seventy-six pieces from this period (including some by artists from other countries). One of them, 60, designated as the "19th century collection presentation room", is rotating, except for a brief period after the rearrangement that was carried out in 2021, when it was another room of the permanent collection.[note 8] Although it is common to repeat that they are shown for the first time since 1896 integrated with the rest of the collection,[112][113][114] the truth is that since 1905, when the works of the legacy Ramón de Errazu were exhibited for the first time, the Prado always hung some Spanish paintings of the century in the context of its collection. Next to Goya, work by Vicente López was traditionally exhibited and there was a room dedicated to paintings by the Madrazo family (José, Federico and Raimundo), Esquivel and Ferrant, among others. Only for twelve years, those between the closing of the Casón and the opening of the rooms in the Villanueva building (1997-2009), the painting of the century remained invisible in the rooms of the Prado (with the exception of the inaugural exhibition of the expansion, in 2007).
Among the latest acquisitions that have enriched the Spanish collection are the purchases of The Countess of Chinchón "The Countess of Chinchón (painting)"), by Goya (2000), and Ferdinando Brandani, by Velázquez (2003). On the other hand, the two greatest weaknesses of the collection, the medieval painting and the still lifes, have been partially alleviated in recent times, especially the second, thanks mainly in the case of the first to the donation Várez Fisa (2013) (to which is added the deposit by the Duke of Infantado of the altarpiece of the Jozos de Santa María), and the other to the partial purchase of the Naseiro collection (2006), to which are added some specific acquisitions that have allowed the incorporation of important still life artists who were absent until then, such as Still life of game, vegetables and fruits, by Sánchez Cotán (1991),[note 9] and Still life with pomegranate and grapes, by Juan de Zurbarán (2015),[115] as well as reinforcing poorly represented subgenres, such as still lifes with figures of the century (Fruit sellers, by Jerónimo Jacinto Espinosa (2008), La gallinera, by Alejandro de Loarte (2011), or Pícaro de cocina, by Francisco López Caro (2015, donation Arango)).[116].
The Italian painting collection consists of more than a thousand works[117] and is undoubtedly one of the great attractions of the museum, even though it suffers from certain gaps, especially in relation to works from before the 19th century. Although already in the time of John II of Castile, Italian literature had great influence in Spain, new developments in the field of plastic arts arrived late, and its presence until the century was very scarce. This was largely due to the predilection of both the king himself and his daughter, Isabel la Católica, for Flemish painting, and is the reason why the museum's collection of Italian primitives is very small.[118].
Thus, works corresponding to the Trecento and Quattrocento are very scarce, although a good part of them are of great quality. The most important core is made up of the works acquired throughout the history of the institution, from The Annunciation "The Annunciation (Fra Angelico, Madrid)") by Fra Angelico, which the then director of the Prado, Federico de Madrazo, obtained in 1861 for the Monasterio de las Descalzas Reales "Monasterio de las Descalzas Reales (Madrid)") to give to the museum in exchange for a copy executed by himself; even those incorporated recently. The collection experienced a notable increase thanks to the Cambó donation,[80] which included two tablets dedicated to the life of Saint Eloy by the Master of the Madonna della Misericordia (which Cambó acquired as originals from Taddeo Gaddi), another by Giovanni dal Ponte and, above all, three of the four tables from The story of Nastagio degli Onesti by Botticelli.[119].
The other core, much smaller, corresponds to the works from the Spanish Royal Collection, where the Transit of the Virgin "Transit of the Virgin (Mantegna)") by Andrea Mantegna stands out. The rest of the works correspond to authors such as Francesco Traini, by whom it is a Virgin with Child, which was the only example of Italian painting before 1450 within the Royal Collection.[120].
Although the museum's collection offers a limited overview of Italian art before 1500, it does boast authentic masterpieces from such an important chapter in Art History. Apart from the pieces by Mantegna, Botticelli, or the excellent Dead Christ, Supported by an Angel "Dead Christ Supported by an Angel (Antonello da Messina)") by Antonello da Messina, acquired in 1965, the most valuable set is made up of the three works by Fra Angelico: a small predella of an altarpiece dedicated to the life of Saint Anthony the Abbot, and two of his best works: The Annunciation and The Virgin of the Pomegranate "Virgin of the pomegranate (Fra Angelico)"). The incorporation of the latter in 2016 outstandingly reinforced the set of works from the Italian Quattrocento and placed the institution as an important point for knowledge of the painter's work.[68] Likewise, there are two works by Amico Aspertini and his brother Guido (The Abduction of the Sabine Women and The Continence of Scipio), a triptych and a Madonna with Child by Antoniazzo Romano, a Virgin with Child between two Saints by Giovanni Bellini, although with extensive workshop participation, a Saint Anthony the Abbot meditating, by Giovanni Agostino da Lodi, and a Saint Francis of Assisi by Francesco Francia, acquired in 2021.[121].
The painting of the Cinquecento begins the great period of Italian painting in the Prado with some capital works by Raphael and his workshop, especially by Giulio Romano and Giovanni Francesco Penni. The museum is one of the institutions with the largest number of paintings from the last years of the master's production,[122] including such relevant works as Portrait of a cardinal "Portrait of a cardinal (Rafael)"), the Madonna of the fish, The Pasmo of Sicily "The Pasmo of Sicily (Rafael)"), or the Holy Family with Saint John "The Pearl (Rafael)"), called "the Pearl" by Felipe IV, who considered it the most precious painting in his collection.[123] The large collection of works by this artist (eight paintings, including autographs and those made to a greater or lesser extent by his disciples) reflects the prestige he enjoyed in Spain, where his works were enormously appreciated and in demand. One of the most important gaps in the Prado is the lack of autograph examples of Leonardo da Vinci. There are two paintings by his follower Bernardino Luini and another two by Giampietrino, although without a doubt the work closest to the master is the unique copy of the Gioconda "La Gioconda (copy from the Prado Museum)"). Its landscape background was hidden for decades by a black repaint, in 2012, after its study and restoration, it was determined that it had been made in parallel and simultaneously to the original by one of the master's disciples.[124][125] Other notable names in Renaissance art present with important works are Sebastiano del Piombo, Dosso Dossi, Correggio, Andrea del Sarto and Federico Barocci, authors in the transition to Mannerism, just represented by a handful of works by Parmigianino, Bronzino or Francesco Salviati "Francesco Salviati (painter)").
The Venetian painting of the , with a very wide presence to the point of constituting the best collection of it outside of Italy, deserves special mention. The central artist of the school, Titian, was the favorite painter of Charles V and Philip II and, although several of his works remain in the Monastery of El Escorial, the representation in the Prado of the cadorino exceeds thirty paintings. For the first Habsburgs he composed some of his masterpieces, such as the Equestrian Portrait of Charles V in Mühlberg or the poesie (poems). This series consisted of six works, although there were two others that apparently were never sent, Medea and Jason[126] and Actaeon destroyed by the dogs.[127] Of these, the only one that remains in Spain is that of the Prado, Venus and Adonis "Venus and Adonis (Titian)"). Other masters such as Tintoretto, Veronese, Lorenzo Lotto, Bonifazio Veronese, Palma the Younger, Moroni, Bernardino Licinio, Jacopo Bassano and his sons Francesco and Leandro, and even some precursors such as Vincenzo Catena, are also represented in the collection.
Italian baroque painting constitutes one of the most compact centers of the Prado, due to the variety of artists and the quality of the works that we can admire. The two great pictorial trends of the time, tenebrism and Bolognese classicism, have good collections, with the first beginning with the initiator Caravaggio (David conqueror of Goliath "David conqueror of Goliath (Caravaggio)")) and his followers, such as Orazio Gentileschi (Moses saved from the waters "Moses saved from the waters (O. Gentileschi)")), his daughter Artemisia Gentileschi, Giovanni Battista Caracciolo (known as Battistello), Giovanni Serodine or Bernardo Cavallino. The presence of Bolognese classicism is also rich, with paintings by Annibale Carracci (Venus, Adonis and Cupid, Assumption of Mary), Domenichino, Guido Reni (Hippomenes and Atalanta "Atalanta and Hippomenes (Guido Reni)")), Guercino, Giulio Cesare Procaccini, Alessandro Turchi and Giovanni Lanfranco. Even the decorative baroque trend has a singular example by Ciro Ferri (La Natividad [6], for whose support he used a vitreous paste called aventurine and which has recently been restored)[128] and the excellent group of works by Luca Giordano, who worked in Spain for King Charles II. To all of the above it is worth adding the examples of other important Baroque authors, such as Francesco Furini, Salvatore Rosa, Orazio Borgianni, Michelangelo Cerquozzi, Mattia Preti, Andrea Sacchi, Carlo Maratta, Massimo Stanzione, Andrea Vaccaro, Bernardo Strozzi or Alessandro Magnasco.
The figure of Giambattista Tiepolo closes the suggestive chapter of Italian painting in the Prado, along with other artists who, like him, came to Spain to decorate the new Royal Palace of Madrid, such as his son Giandomenico and Corrado Giaquinto. All of them have an estimable representation, in quality and quantity. Sadly, examples by Vedutists such as Canaletto and Francesco Guardi are missing,[note 10] well represented in the neighboring Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, although the Prado does have examples by Antonio Joli, Gaspare Vanvitelli (Caspar van Wittel) and Francesco Battaglioli. And within the field of architectural whim "Capricho (art)") (vedute ideate), a group of paintings by Giovanni Paolo Pannini as well as one by Leonardo Coccorante.
The Flemish painting section is the third in the museum, both in quantity (more than a thousand works) and in quality, only behind the Spanish and almost at the level of the Italian.[129] As in the case of both, a large part of its funds comes from the Royal Collection. It includes, on the one hand, representatives of early Dutch painting, the misnamed Flemish primitives "Flemish Painting (15th and 16th centuries)"), such as the Master of Flemalle"), Van der Weyden (The Descent from the Cross "Descent from the Cross (Rogier van der Weyden)"), Madonna Durán), Dieric Bouts, Petrus Christus and Hans Memling (triptych from The Adoration of the Magi "The Adoration of the Magi (Memling)") Goes.[130][131] The museum also exhibits the best collection of Hieronymus Hieronymus in the world, which includes three of his capital works: the triptychs of The Garden of Earthly Delights, The Hay Cart and the Adoration of the Magi "Adoration of the Magi (Hieronymus Bosch)"). They come from the personal collection of Philip II, who was so fond of this painter that he ordered to buy as many of his works as possible.
Equally outstanding are the paintings by Joachim Patinir, Marinus van Reymerswaele and Anthonis Mor van Dashorst (Antonio More) (the largest collections of these artists), as well as the two by Pieter Brueghel the Elder (The Triumph of Death and The Wine of the Feast of Saint Martin), and others by Gerard David, Jan Gossaert, Ambrosius Benson, Jan van Scorel, Quentin Metsys, Pieter Coecke van Aelst and Michel Coxcie.
The collection of the century exceeds six hundred works,[132] which makes it one of the best collections of Flemish Baroque painting in the world, to which perhaps only the Museum of Art History in Vienna can be compared. The Prado has the most important collection of Rubens,[133] with about ninety paintings (the specific number varies according to the sources, since the authorship of some of the works is in dispute) and some drawings. Philip IV commissioned dozens of paintings from him to decorate his palaces and he was also the main buyer in the auction held at his death with the works he owned in his studio. The fact that many of the Prado paintings were directly commissioned by the king of one of the most powerful countries in Europe at that time (in addition to his own sovereign) has also resulted in their execution being of a high average quality, with a good number of them being among his masterpieces. The museum also has more than twenty-five examples by van Dyck, several by Jacob Jordaens (including his Self-portrait with his family), four of Clara Peeters' rare still lifes, and the Five Senses series painted in collaboration by Jan Brueghel the Elder (Brueghel de Velours) and Rubens. They are covered by a generous sample of landscapes, hunting scenes, still lifes and other genre themes by authors such as Peter Snayers, Sebastian Vrancx, Joos de Momper, Alexander Adriaenssen, Osias Beert, Paul de Vos, Frans Snyders and Jan Fyt, as well as a set (perhaps the largest in the world) by David Teniers the Younger, of which nearly twenty-five works are on display. On the other hand, the representation of the Flemish Caravaggists is very short, just two works by Theodoor Rombouts and paths by Louis Finson, or Ludovicus Finsonius, Nicolas Régnier, Gerard Seghers and Adam de Coster.
It is the fourth most widely represented national school, with more than three hundred paintings, although it is a far cry from the previous three. As in the Italian and Flemish case, here historical circumstances also exerted great influence, and the almost permanent belligerence between Spain and France over the centuries restricted artistic exchanges between both countries, to which were added the differences in tastes prevailing in each of them.
There are hardly any examples before 1600, although among them is an outstanding panel dated between 1405 and 1408, by an anonymous author, perhaps Colart de Laon, acquired in May 2012: The Prayer in the Garden with the donor Louis I of Orleans. The centuries and have, for their part, masterful works by Poussin, such as The Triumph of David and The Parnassus "The Parnassus (Poussin)"); by Claudio de Lorena a set of outstanding landscapes is preserved, also highlighting three paintings by Simon Vouet and four by Sébastien Bourdon. Tenebrism has striking examples of Georges de La Tour, Nicolas Tournier and Valentin de Boulogne. Portrait painters of the Spanish Bourbons, such as Jean Ranc, Louis-Michel van Loo and Michel-Ange Houasse, as well as of the French Bourbons, such as Hyacinthe Rigaud and Antoine-François Callet, are present alongside Rococo masters such as Antoine Watteau, François Boucher and Auger Lucas, and the landscape painters Hubert Robert, Claude Joseph Vernet and Jean Pillement.
The Prado Museum's collection of French paintings is undoubtedly one of the least studied aspects of the collections until now. There is a significant number of neoclassical works, including one by Merry-Joseph Blondel and several by currently unknown painters around J.-L. David who will offer pleasant surprises in the future, in addition to an appreciable number of examples by the French disciples of J. A. D. Ingres. The collections from the first half of the century also include a portrait of Charles X of France by François Gérard. There are also more modern works of great interest, from the second half of the century, such as the two female portraits by Ernest Meissonier, something very rare within his production, a famous nude painting by Paul Baudry, The Pearl and the Wave, which belonged to the Empress Eugenia de Montijo, a portrait by Félix-Henri Giacomotti), two by Carolus-Duran, four oil paintings by Léon Bonnat and a Landscape attributed to Alfred Sisley.[134] And, from the beginning of the century, a portrait of Paul Chabas and a landscape by Henri Martin "Henri Martin (painter)").
There are few works of German painting preserved in the Prado and historically in Spain in general (until the arrival of the Thyssen collection). Despite the strong relationship of the Spanish Habsburgs with the Holy Roman Empire, most Hispanic monarchs opted for another type of painting. Because of this, this collection is small in number, although of great quality.
Of particular note is the group of four masterpieces by Albrecht Dürer, including his iconic Self-portrait with gloves "Self-portrait of Dürer (Prado)") from 1498 and the pair of Adam and Eve panels "Adam and Eve (Dürer)"). Of the rest of the works, stand out a Virgin with the Child Jesus, Saint John and angels and two curious hunting scenes, all three by the hand of Lucas Cranach the Elder (in addition, in 2001 a Portrait of Juan Federico "the Magnanimous" was acquired, which was believed to be Cranach's autograph, but was later considered a workshop work); two very important allegories by Hans Baldung Grien, The Three Ages and Death and Harmony or The Three Graces "Harmony (The Three Graces)"), a small painting by Adam Elsheimer, Ceres in the House of Hecuba, and already in the 19th century, a large group of works, twenty-nine (one of dubious attribution), by Anton Raphael Mengs, who was named First Painter to King Charles III and worked in the Court between 1761 and 1769 and from 1774 to 1776. Basically these are portraits of the royal family (or those around them, such as the Portrait of José Nicolás de Azara, acquired in 2012), although there is also a self-portrait, the Portrait of the Jesuit Father Francesco Pepe and some works on religious subjects. Added to them is a single piece by Angelica Kauffmann: Anna von Escher van Muralt, entered in 1926 with the Luis de Errazu legacy; a Saint Sebastian, by Gottlieb Schick, donated in 2015 by Pablo de Jevenois,[135] and a portrait of Infanta Paz de Borbón by Franz von Lenbach, donated by the Madrid City Council.
The continuous hostility (on many occasions open war) between Spain and the United Provinces after their separation in 1581 made it extraordinarily difficult for the painting of the century from that country to arrive in Spain, the period of greatest splendor of this school, to which the direction taken by Dutch painting after independence also contributed, seeking a style of its own that deviated from and in many cases was even antagonistic to the classicist ideal, which meant that for a long time it was not to the taste of the collectors, not only from Spain, but also from other countries where classical art was still very popular, such as France and Italy. Thus, while Spanish collectors were mostly inclined towards religious and mythological works, in the Netherlands there was a great boom in landscape genres, marine "Marina (painting)"), still lifes and scenes of manners, acquired by a bourgeoisie that wanted in this way to express its identification with its land and its lifestyle. All of this resulted in the Prado Museum's collection not being especially extensive, and it was also missing fundamental names such as Johannes Vermeer and Frans Hals. Most of the works in the Prado come from the Royal Collection and almost all of them were acquired in the 19th century, especially by Philip V and his second wife, Isabel de Farnesio.
Dutch painting has one hundred works, almost all of them from the century,[136][137] among which stands out an important painting by Rembrandt: Judit at the Banquet of Holofernes "Artemis (Rembrandt)"), previously identified as Artemis receiving the ashes of Mausolus or as Sophonisba receiving the cup of poison. This is one of the masterpieces of Rembrandt's early period, which appears to portray his wife Saskia in the main female figure.
The Dutch collection also includes a still life by Pieter Claesz and three by Willem Claesz. Heda, the four from the Fernández Durán legacy, and works by the still lifeist Jan Davidszoon de Heem, a rare example of this genre by Gabriël Metsu, three small-format scenes by Leonaert Bramer, a portrait by Gerard ter Borch, several works by the costumbrist Adriaen van Ostade, the chiaroscurist Mathias Stomer, the landscape painters Herman van Swanevelt and Simon de Vlieger, the Italianizers Salomon de Bray and Jan Both and an important series by Philips Wouwerman. This collection has been the subject of an exhibition and the publication of its first catalog raisonné in December 2009.[138].
The historical rivalry between Spain and the United Kingdom, which began in the century with the accession of Elizabeth I of England to the throne and her definitive separation from the Church of Rome, did not exactly contribute to facilitating the acquisition of British works of art by the Spanish Monarchy. In such a way that, unlike the collections held by the institution of other pictorial schools, in which many of the pieces—including the bulk of the masterpieces—come from the Royal Collection, in the British painting section none of the works have such an origin. They all entered through donations, legacies, an inheritance, and, above all, purchases, made especially in the central decades of the century. The lack of contribution from the Royal Collection and the lack of interest in this school on the part of the museum's leadership—despite, for example, the influence it exerted on a capital artist for the Prado such as Goya—, except during the period of Fernando Álvarez de Sotomayor and Francisco Javier Sánchez Cantón, has resulted in this collection being very brief, only thirty-one works (in addition to two others of dubious attribution) by twenty painters (or twenty-two). Furthermore, it is of little variety, since the vast majority are portraits made between the second half of the century and the first half of the century, and is made up of pieces of a certain quality but not very representative, except in the case of those of Thomas Lawrence.[139].
It is composed of works dated in the second half of the century and in the century, except for that executed by Cornelius Johnson van Ceulen (Cornelis Janssens van Ceulen), from the first half of the century. Missing from it are Joseph Wright of Derby, the prominent renovator William Hogarth and the visionary William Blake, as well as the great names of English landscape painting (Turner, Constable), but there are, however, some examples of the work of the main portrait painters. The list includes, apart from the aforementioned Lawrence, Thomas Gainsborough, Joshua Reynolds, George Romney "George Romney (painter)"), Francis Cotes, Henry Raeburn and John Hoppner, among others. On the other hand, it has four views of different parts of Spain by the romanticist painter David Roberts, which were acquired throughout the last century. Finally, from Pre-Raphaeliteism, already in the Victorian era, the museum has a spectacular canvas by the Dutchman living in the United Kingdom Lawrence Alma-Tadema, Pompeian Scene or The Nap, which was received in 1887 by donation from Ernest Gambart.[140].
Even smaller, barely testimonial, is the presence of paintings from the rest of the schools: Hispanic American (more than twenty, but deposited in the Museum of America), Filipino, Swedish (Adolf Ulrik Wertmüller, August Franzén"), Bernhard Österman"), Danish (Eberhard Keil -Monsù Bernardo-), American, Central European... Regarding the Portuguese school, despite the geographical proximity and Due to the close relationship between the Spanish and Portuguese monarchies, especially during the times of the first Habsburgs, the presence of paintings from that country is minimal, reduced to six works, almost all of them from the 19th century or early 19th century. The most notable pieces are the two from the century, the oil paintings Catherine of Austria, Queen of Portugal, as Saint Catherine (the only known signed work by Domingo Carvalho) and King Don Sebastian of Portugal, by Cristóvão de Morais (in Spain also called Cristóbal de Morales).