Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid

The Museo Nacional del Prado in Madrid is one of the richest galleries in the world, measuring its wealth not by the number of canvases in them, but by the meanings of world paintings. Each painting is a masterpiece. The Museo Nacional del Prado is the Madrid's calling card. Stepping through its doors, a fairy-tale world is revealed, colored by the Spanish royal collections, by works by Italian masters of the brush, exhibited next to the works of northern European and French artists.
The Museo Nacional del Prado is considered one of the largest places to host the art of Europe, which annually welcomes over 2 million guests from around the world. Conceived in 1785. by the architect Juan de Villanueva, abandoned and crumbling during the six years of French occupation, the Museo Nacional del Prado, by the will of King Ferdinand VII and under the direction of architect Antonio Lopez Aguado, was completed and erected as one of the symbols of Spanish architectural classicism.
Its grand opening was on November 19, 1819 as the Royal Museum of Painting with a collection of 311 paintings from the Spanish Royal Collections. The Marquis of Santa Cruz has been named director of the museum, completing the Prado's wealth of 512 paintings in less than two years.
Today, more than 7,000 works of art are brought to spiritual ecstasy, including 3,000 paintings, 500 sculptures and 4,000 drawings on display in various departments. The Spanish school in the Museo Nacional del Prado is represented by Berugette, Ribera, Zurbaran, Murillo, El Greco. The works of El Greco and Velazquez stand out in all their beauty and elegance. The Royal Collection is located on both floors: on the first floor are exhibited numerous specimens of church paintings, and on the second floor are exhibited paintings by El Greco, Velazquez and portraits of Goya. Among the Italian masters are especially interesting Titian and Raphael, who have long been considered by the Spanish court to be the greatest masters of Italy. The Museo Nacional del Prado also houses an impressive collection of works by Jerome Bosch. Deservedly exhibited are the incredible works of Fra Angelico, Peter Paul Rubens with one of the richest collections of paintings, Botticelli, Rembrandt, Dürer, Nicolas Poussin, Claude Lauren and many others.
The hallmark of the museum is the spectacular canvas of Peter Brueghel the Elder "Triumph of Death".
Designed to impart knowledge and foster artistic taste, the Museo Nacional del Prado is one of those wonders that is said to have been a landmark in Madrid, attracting connoisseurs and curious tourists from all over the world.