Page 17 - Contemporary Art and Old Masters

THE COLLECTION

Miguel Falomir, Museo Del Prado’s Director

Welcome to the Museo del Prado, an institution
dating back almost 200 years and one whose
origins and unique nature are largely due
to the collecting tastes of Spain’s 16th- and
17th-century monarchs. Collecting at that period
differed from the present day. Rather than
aiming at comprehensiveness, collectors aimed
to assemble as many works as possible by their
favorite artists. This explains why the Prado has
been described as a museum of painters not of
paintings, given that its artists are represented
in a superlative manner with, for example,
the largest holdings of Bosch, Titian, El Greco,
Rubens, Velázquez and Goya, some numbering
more than 100 works.

Raphael, The Cardinal, Oil on canvas, 79 x 61 cm, ca. 1510
© Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado
The Museo del Prado, Room 58, Flemish painting galleries
The Descent from the Cross, Van der Weyden © Museo Nacional del Prado

WORLD of ART 17