Prado Museum, Madrid

It seems that the Prado museum might acquire an unknown work of Pieter Bruegel the Elder called "Het St-Maartensfeest" (Feast of St-Martin).
Knowing that only forty Bruegel the Elder reached us this is great news for Madrid's Prado and all fans of Bruegel.
Actually the painting, first thought to be a copy, belongs to a private Spanish collection and was first recognized by the curator Manfred Sellink of the Groeninge Museum in Bruges. The large painting 2,70 m x 1,40 m was restored at the Prado and recognized by other Bruegel specialists as authentic from about 1567, the year when the "Peasant Dance" (KHM Vienna) was painted.
The work, on the free market, is evaluated at 25 million Euros but as the work is not allowed to leave Spain the real price proposed by the museum will be much lower.

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One might be tempted to compare the famous MUSEO NACIONAL DEL PRADO with the THYSSEN BORNEMISZA collection on the other side of the same avenue. I visited both museums several times and must say that my aesthetic pleasure was much greater each time at the Thyssen-Bornemisza than at the Prado Museum.
I confess that I am not a fan of the Spanish school with its painters such as El Greco, Ribalta, Ribera, Murillo, or Zurbaran. My taste or judgement has probably been "spoiled" by having grown up surrounded by Flemish and Dutch paintings.
Fortunately for those who might share my taste, the Prado has a large section of Flemish painters (1000 paintings) including Van de Weyden, Bosch ("the Garden of Delights") and Rubens and 200 works from Dutch painters.
Most spectacular is Jerome Bosch whose pictures have always fascinated viewers; Philip II, king of Spain, was a major art collector who liked the bizarre fantasies of this Netherlandish master.

If in his time Bosch was regarded as the inventor of monsters and chimeras, today his paintings still hold as an intriguing attraction reflecting mysterious practices of the Middle Ages.

I was surprised during my last visit at the Prado to notice that guides stopped their groups in front of his famous triptych " The Garden of the Delights " to explain at length its symbolism, while in previous years they would spend more time on Velazquez and other painters of the Spanish school.
Jerome Bosch seems a rising star in the world of the fans of the esotericism, the mysteries and the sects. Should we see here a collateral effect of the "Da Vinci Code" esoteric passion?

With the help of Google Earth it is now possible to see major works of the Prado such as the Garden of Delights in detail and high resolution. Fantastic!

On the other side of the Paseo del Prado, the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum was enlarged in June 2004 to display more than 200 paintings collected by Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza. The collection of the Baroness is a natural continuation of the historical Thyssen-Bornemisza collection (located in Madrid since 1992) and includes 17th century Dutch painting, 19th century landscape, North American painting, Impressionism, Post-impressionism and Avant-Garde movements. It is a real pleasure to visit the new galleries which complement the historical collection. Quality and variety are the characteristics of this museum which now belongs among the Europe’s best museums of paintings.

To conclude: a visit to Madrid must include both museums.

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As I mentioned in the introduction, I didn't know much about Madrid before I got there, but one thing I did know was that it was home to the famous Prado Museum. The Prado houses a collection of over a thousand classic European paintings, dating from the 12th to the 19th century. Spanish painters Velazquez and Goya are prominently featured in the museum, but the works of other painters and sculptors such as Rubens, Rembrandt, Botticelli and Raphael are also on display.

I have to admit that since I don't know all that much about classical and religious arts, the Prado wasn't necessarily my favorite museum in Madrid. I did however learn a lot, and by the end of my visit I was able to recognize many famous scenes, such as the rest on the flight to Egypt and Lot and his daughters. My favorite paintings included Las Meninas by Velazquez, The Three Graces by Rubens, and the rather haunting "black paintings" by Goya (unfortunately, as in most museums in Madrid, it was not possible to take pictures).

On a side note, we had lunch at the Cafe Prado, and without being anything too special, it was good and quite affordable. The museum is open from 9:00 am to 8:00 pm every day (closed on Mondays). Admission: 6 Euros (free after 6:00 pm).

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There's no point in writing loads about the Prado itself: it's a huge place stuffed ith artworks, some of which are indeed masterpieces.

I like art, but not so much that I was prepared to pay the 12 euro entrance fee if there was a way of avoiding it. And there is, especially if (like me) you choose a hotel in the nearby area.

The Prado is free every evening from 6pm-8pm. If you stay nearby you will be able to go on more than one evening, before you nip out for your evening meal/drink (as I did). Which is very pleasing. :-)

The queue at 5.45m, when I joined, stretched to the Velasquez atatue and I was concerned that I would lose a lot of time actually getting into the museum. But it turned out not to be so. On the do of 6 the queue began to move steadily forwards, with the ticket sellers ready with free tickets as you entered and the security scanners functioning speedily. So I was inside and ready to go by 6.05 both times I visited.

I've no doubt queues will be longer at busier times of year, so it makes sense to get there around, say, 5.30 or risk taking a bit longer to get in.

Once inside, people quickly dispersed around the huge building so I was able to see all the paintings close-up, with no problems at all.

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Kim and I have been to many art museums. We both agreed that El Prado Museum is amongst the best we’ve seen so far. The tour director only allows us two hours, naturally as an art lover that’s not enough. Anyway we did our best try to see and read the info of the individual paintings, sculptures as much as we can. For obvious reasons we did not get to see much of the collections.

We did manage to see many of Goya collections. I was very impressed with Francisco Goya work during his dark period, his painting ‘Saturn Devouring His Son’ very haunting indeed; hmm he must be on drug. I always like ‘The Naked Maja’, ‘The Clothed Maja’ and his well known painting “The Shootings of May 3rd”. I had a good look at ‘Las Meninas’ by Diego Velazquez, he’s on the paintings. I had a quick browse of El Greco and others paintings.

To see these paintings live is so much different seeing from a book. To absorb everything at the museum you need at least two days. I also noticed there are master copies of paintings exhibits done by students; I must admit there are very good.

El Prado is the most visited art museum in Spain and one of the best in the world. It has more than 8,600 paintings. Anyone who likes art will know El Prado. It has many collections from artists around the world, to name a few artists like Goya, El Greco, Velazquez, Rembrandt, Rubens, Raphael, Bosch, Rafael. Not only exhibit paintings but also exhibits sculptures, drawings, coins and other works of arts.

Tuesdays to Saturdays: 9am-7pm
Sundays, holidays, 24th and 31st december: 9am-2pm
Mondays: closed

Price: 6 € full-price

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I went to the Prado Museum on each trip. On the 1964 trip with my sister, I went on my own before she got there and then we took a city tour, and I let her go in by herself while I sat with my niece. Then when we went together, we took a small part of the museum to look at, as we had my niece with us in a stroller.

The second time when I went with my mom, we concentrated mostly on the Spanish artists (Goya, Velasquez and El Greco (who I think was really a Greek) but we also looked at the Flemish section (Brueghel and Bosch) because those guys have always fascinated me - kind of like a medieval Grandma Moses. We went twice at opening time on our own for short visits, and then when the tour we joined went whirlwind through the museum, we didn't have to worry that we'd miss our favorite things.

Open: 9 AM to 7 PM; Sundays 9 AM to 2 PM. Closed: Monday.

Basic admission: 3.01 €
Discounted admission (with ID): 1.5 €
- Holders of youth cards, student´s cards or international equivalents.

Free admission (with ID):
- Visitors under 18
- Visitors over 65, pensioners, registered disabled

AUDIOGUIDE
Avalaible in Rooms 1 and 51. Price 3 €.

CAFETERIA:

Tuesday to Sunday and public holidays from 9am to 6.20pm.

RESTAURANT:

Tuesday to Sunday and public holidays from 11.30 am to 4pm

SHOP:

Tuesday to Sunday and public holidays from 9am to 6.30pm

Currently the museum website says:

"Each month the Museum invites visitors to take part in a guided tour entitled "A Work, an Artist". These visits aim is to encourage a close look at a particular painting.

These tours take place at the following times:

Saturdays at 4pm and 5.30pm
Sundays at 11am and 12.30pm
They last around one hour.

"All those wishing to take part should enter the Museum through one of the normal entrances. Once inside, it is essential to register for the tour at least 30 minutes before it starts, at the meeting point located in the Lower Rotunda of the Goya Entrance. "

This sounds like a good deal to me.

The Prado Museum is one of the most complete and visited museums in the world, it's of course one of my favourite. The collection consists mainly of classical paintings and sculptures... what I like the most are the paintings, it's amazing how one room can give you goose bumps because of it's darkness and creepiness, and the next is so beautiful you think you could cry. The Prado has so many different styles that anyone will find something that s/he likes there. In any case it's great to see for example paintings from Goya or Velazquez or the temporary expositions which are usually great. Don't miss the chance if you have it. Also recentrly the Prado Museum had gone through some new additions, there are many new rooms with art works that were waiting to be put up on the walls. I haven't had the chance to visit the new part, but it sure looks interesting! The architecture is a lot more contemporary and it makes quite some contrast with the art pieces.
The entrance is EUR 6.- The museum is opened Tuesday-Sunday from 9:00 to 20:00. The entrance will be for free from Tuesday-Saturday if you go from 18:00 to 20:00, and on Sundays from 17:00 to 20:00.

The Prado Museum was right across my hotel (the Westin Palace), and so it was easy to explore this very huge collection of artworks, most notably those of Diego Velazquez whose Las Meninas painting (Maids in Waiting) attracts a lot of attention. Diego himself is in the picture in the lower left corner, with the highlight being the Infanta Margarita (child of King Felipe - also seen in painting, can you find him?) with her maids and two dwarfs.

Other artists whose works I remember include those of Goya at the ground and first floors, Raphael (The Holy Family with Lamb, Portrait of a Cardinal), Rubens (Three Graces) and Rembrant's Artemis. But I am not much of an art buff, but still I enjoyed this museum a lot!

in front of this building there is the sculptur of Velazquez.....
There are in exposition 2000 pictures. There are of cours very wealthy colloection of spanish painting. You can see here the pictures of Goya, Velazquez, Ribera, Murillo, El Greco, Zurbaran and many more.The italian painting represent among others: Tizian, Veronese, Tiepolo, Fra Angelico, Botticelli, Tintoretto, Caravaggio, Rafaello... The french - Poussin, Lorrain, Watteau..... The another great masters wich works can you admire are: Rubens, Bosch, Rembrandt, Cranach, Duerer, Brueghel, Teniers, Van Dycke.......and many more.... one day this is too little time to see all....

Museo del Prado surely is one the most important museums of fine arts of the world; it houses an amazing collection of paintings of the masters. The masterpieces of the greatest Spaniard painters like Velázquez, Goya, Murillo, Zurbarán, are here; the vedettes of the museum are "Las Meninas" by Velázquez (see picture) and "La Maja desnuda" by Goya.
Remember that the visit takes several hours, so put your most comfortable shoes on.

El Museo del Prado seguramente es uno de los museos de artes plásticas más importantes del mundo; aloja una impresionante colección de pinturas de los maestros. Las obras maestras de los más destacados pintores españoles tales como Velázquez, Goya, Murillo, Zurbarán, están aquí; las vedettes del museo son "Las Meninas" de Velázquez (ver foto) y "La Maja desnuda" de Goya.
Recuerda que la visita lleva varias horas, así que ponte tus zapatos más cómodos.