Page 16 - Contemporary Art and Old Masters

Group of San Ildefonso, Anonymous, Marble 161 x 233 x 56 cm, ca. 10 B.C. El Greco, The Nobleman with his Hand on his Chest, Oil on canvas, 82 x 66
© Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado cm, ca. 1580, © Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado

Fernández Durán’s, and the Ramón de Errazu When completed, the Prado will constitute a unique
Bequest of 19th-century Painting. museum campus that will enormously increase the
The Prado’s Collection as well as its number of already outstanding cultural facilities to be found in
visitors increased greatly throughout the 19th and one of the most important art and cultural districts
20th century. In order to more fully accommodate in the world, known as the “Paseo del Prado” and
them, the Villanueva building underwent several located in the Spanish capital.
expansions to the point that any further intervention The Museum is now celebrating the conclusion
was no longer possible. At this point, the Museum’s of an important phase in the creation of the new
development was solved by constructing a new Museo del Prado Campus, involving the extension
building located on a site facing the east facade of of the Museum’s main building into the area of the
the Prado, and interconnecting the two buildings Jerónimos Cloister, in accordance with the architect
from within. Rafael Moneo’s project. Following two architectural
With the termination of Rafael Moneo’s project competitions, Moneo’s project was chosen for the
around the area of the Church of the Jerónimos, design of the Museum’s new extension in 1998.
the Museo del Prado has completed the most Work began in February 2002 under the supervision
important extension to its building in its almost of the Ministry of Culture.
200 years of history. This project, which includes
the creation of new exhibition galleries and the The new building incorporates more than 22,000
restoration of the former Jerónimos Cloister, is part square metres of surface area (an increase of more
of an ongoing expansion project that involves the than 50% on the existing size) and will allow the
incorporation of various nearby buildings into the various visitor facilities and other aspects relating
Prado, including the Casón and the Salón de Reinos, to the display and conservation of the collections to
the last surviving remains of the Buen Retiro Palace. be arranged in a more ordered and spacious way.

16 WORLD of ART