The Museum's first catalogue, published in 1819, included 311
paintings, although at that time its collection comprised just
over 1,510 pictures from the various Reales Sitios (Royal
Residences). The exceptionally important royal collection, which
represents the foundation of the Museum's collection as we
know it today, started to increase significantly in the 16th
century during the time of Charles V and continued to thrive
under the succeeding Habsburg and Bourbon Monarchs. We
owe to them the presence of some of the Museum´s greatest
masterpieces, such as The Garden of Earthly Delights by Bosch,
The Nobleman with his hand on his Chest by El Greco, Death of
the Virgin by Mantegna, The Holy Family known as The Pearlby
Raphael, Emperor Carlos V on Horseback by Titian, The Foot
Washing by Tintoretto, Self-portrait by Dürer , Las Meninas by
Velázquez, The Three Graces by Rubens, and The Family of
Carlos IV by Goya.
In addition, more outstanding paintings - which belonged to the
Museo de la Trinidad - entered the Prado, among them The
Fountain of Grace by the School of Jan Van Eyck, Saint Dominic
Presides over an Auto de Fe by Pedro Berruguete, and five
- canvases
0 3 - by El Greco executed for the Colegio de Doña María de
Aragón. Most of the Museum's 19th-century paintings came
from the former Museo de Arte Moderno, including works by the
Madrazo, Vicente López, Carlos de Haes, Rosales and Sorolla.
More than 2,300 paintings have been incorporated into the
Museum del Prado since its opening as well as a large number
of sculptures, prints, drawings and works of art through
bequests, donations and purchases, which account for most of
the New Acquisitions. Particularly important was the Barón
Emile d'Erlanger's donation of Goya's Black Paintings in 1881.
Among the works that have entered the collection through
purchase are some outstanding ones acquired in recent years
The building that today houses the Museo Nacional del including two works by El Greco, Fable and The Flight to Egypt
Prado was designed by architect Juan de Villanueva in acquired in 1993 and 2001, The Countess of Chinchón by Goya
1785. It was constructed to house the Natural History bought in 2000, and Velázquez's Portrait of the man called 'The
Cabinet, by orders of King Charles III. However, the
building's final purpose - as the new Royal Museum of
Paintings and Sculptures - was the decision of the
monarch's grandson, King Ferdinand VII, encouraged by
his wife Queen Maria Isabel de Braganza.The Royal
Museum, soon quickly renamed the National Museum of
Paintings and Sculptures and subsequently the Museo
Pope's Barber' acquired in 2003.
Important bequests have enriched the Museum's collection.
Among them we should mention the magnificent collection of
medals bequeathed by Don Pablo Bosch's, the vast collection of
drawings and decorative arts that belonged to don Pedro
Nacional del Prado, opened to the public for the first time Fernández Durán's, and the Ramón de Errazu Bequest of 19th-
in November 1819. century Painting.