LLEI D'ART 10

on museums Museo del Prado The building that currently houses the Museo Nacional del Prado was designed by the architect Juan de Villanueva –also the creator of the neighbouring Botanical Garden– in 1785 at the behest of Charles III, but did not open its doors to the public –under the name of Royal Painting Museum– until 1819, since originally it was not designed for this purpose. Rather it had been drawn up as a natural history museum, thus explaining the size of the building. Starting with a collection of works of art from the Royal Residences, the museum began to acquire pieces and extending its valuable collections from the 16th century onwards under the auspices of Emperor Charles V and the subsequent monarchs, both Habsburg and Bourbon. As such, their collections are a true reflection of the tastes, alliances and enmities of the various ruling dynasties over several centuries –this can be seen in the whimsical nature of some of the collections, which are in some aspects broad, but narrow in others. This is one of the aspect has tried to be corrected from the 20th century onwards, although not always the success hoped for, since it is the existent collections that have been completed, rather than empty ones. The museum’s collections have been further enriched by numerous donations and legacies, to the point that the Prado had to undertake a series of expansions at its headquarters until it exhausted all possible space. This called for a recent architectural expansion (finished in 2007), which has allowed the internal connection of the various buildings, led by the prestigious Navarrese architect Rafael Moneo. The project practically doubled the available space and without any shadow of a doubt was the most significant of all the changes undergone by the museum in its two hundred years of history. It has allowed for the incorporation of the Claustro de los Jerónimos (Cloister of the Hieronymites), although the programme included the annexation of neighbouring buildings like the Casón and the Vista de los tramos finales de la Galería Central con La familia de Carlos IV de Goya en la sala del fondo (sala 32)/ View of Central Gallery’ final stretches with The family of Charles IV of Goya at the bottom of the Hall 32 © Museo Nacional del Prado Sala/ Hall 64 © Museo Nacional del Prado 139