The Prado Museum opened its doors to the public for the first time in the year 1819. The building, whose design dates to 1785, was not originally intended to be an art museum. Nevertheless, King Ferdinand VII, encouraged by his wife Maria Isabel of Braganza, ultimately stipulated it as such.

The recently opened National Museum of Painting and Sculpture—which would later be named Museo Nacional del Prado—comprised 311 paintings by Spanish artists, though it also held more than 1,500 works originating from the Royal Collections. Those Royal Collections were the seed of what is now the Prado, which began to take shape starting with the reign of Charles III

On the occasion of the Prado Museum's bicentennial, various events, exhibits and activities have been planned. The theme of the Bicentennial celebration is to explain to the public how a private royal collection came to be Spain's most important public cultural institution. This marks a unique opportunity to take a guided tour of the Prado Museum in Madrid and discover its major works.

According to various statistics, the Prado Museum is second only in visits to the Reina Sofía Museum of contemporary art. Despite not being the most diverse museum in terms of collections, the magnitude of its works make it a unique museum with exceptional quality, housing outstanding works from many internationally renowned geniuses such as Velázquez, Goya, Rubens, El Greco, Rivera, Murillo, Raphael, Titian, Botticelli, Tiepolo and van Eyck, in addition to housing the world's most important collection of works by Bosch, including his famous Garden of Earthly Delights.

Thus, the Prado Museum is one of the most visited museums in the entire world. According to recent data, the Museum is ranked 14th on the list of "The World's 100 Most Visited Museums", compiled by the renowned periodical The Art Newspaper. Are you going to miss it?

They say that the Prado Museum's pinacotheca is comprised of works by "painters admired by painters". And it is true that, due to the quality of the works it houses, numerous artists, creators and painters have gone there to learn from the great maestros.

Painters such as Mariano Fortuny, Eduardo Rosales, Ignacio Zuloaga and Joaquín Sorolla have developed their own styles under the influence of works by Velázquez and Goya at the Prado Museum. Other painters who also frequented the museum include Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí, Gustave Courbet, Renoir and Toulouse-Lautrec. A particular champion for the Prado Museum was the artist Édouard Manet, a great admirer of the work of Velázquez.

Other creators who admired the Prado and take the count even higher include Antonio Saura, Guillermo Pérez Villalta, Eduardo Arroyo, Francis Bacon, Andy Warhol, Richard Hamilton and Cai Guo-Qiang, amongst many others. Without a doubt, the Prado Museum has been and is a source of continual inspiration for creators and lovers of art.

The Prado Museum is a meeting point where experts and personalities from every sphere come together. Some of the world's most important dignitaries include a stop at the museum on their official visit itineraries. Standing out amongst them are Margaret Thatcher, Elizabeth II of England and the former presidents of the United States Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama.

Other important figures from the world of cinema, music and entertainment have also included a visit to the Prado Museum on their itineraries. These include such renowned figures as Orson Welles, Jimmy Stewart, Harrison Ford, Madonna, Robert Redford, Woody Allen, Michael Jackson and the Jacksons and many others. If you don't want to be left out, you should come visit it with us!

Very near the main building of the Prado Museum, adjacent to the Retiro Park, is located the Casón del Buen Retiro, an annex to the museum that is currently home to the Prado Museum Study Centre. This highly regarded research centre houses the Prado Museum Library and also serves as a venue for the annual Cátedra del Prado, an event of international scope.

The Prado Museum Library is one of the museum's lesser-known areas but one of its most interesting. The Luca Giordano Reading Room is open to the general public and in it you can research the art world's most important works. In addition, it specialises in painting and sculpture from the Middle Ages to the 19th century, for which it is one of Spain's most important art libraries.

The Prado Museum's great collection of Spanish painting comprises its core capital. It's the most important collection of Spanish painting in terms of quality and quantity in the world and enjoys great international prestige. Amongst the various works and artists it encompasses, the collection of works by Spanish painter Francisco de Goya is a particular highlight.

The Prado Museum's Goya collection features pieces from every period and aspect of his artistic work. It boasts a total of 132 paintings, including his most acclaimed and well-known masterpieces. If you visit Goya's works at the Prado Museum, you will see with your own eyes such masterpieces as Charles IV of Spain and His Family, La Maja Desnuda, or The Third of May 1808 in Madrid, a work also known as "Los fusilamientos" ("Executions by Firing Squad").