The Prado Museum [Hardcover]

Santiago Alcolea Blanch (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2008

New expanded edition! Pritzker Prize-winning architect Rafael Moneo designed the 2007 Prado Museum expansion--the fourth in the Madrid building's 189-year history. In addition to covering Moneo's addition, this generously illustrated volume contains reproductions of nearly 300 works--including Brueghel's "The Triumph of Death," Bosch's "The Garden of Earthly Delights," Rubens' "The Three Graces," Raphael's "The Madonna of the Fish" and Tiepolo's "Olympus"--with a particular emphasis on work by the Spanish masters, including El Greco, Velazquez, Murillo and Goya. Also included are texts by art historian Santiago Alcolea Blanch detailing the new building and contemporary Spanish sculptor Cristina Iglesias' acclaimed entrance, as well as outlining the museum's history to date, paying special attention to chief patrons who have shaped, over the centuries, one of the world's most important museums of art.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 408 pages
• Publisher: Poligrafa (August 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 8434311763
• ISBN-13: 978-8434311763
• Product Dimensions: 12.4 x 10.4 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #386,791 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fine prints from a great museum, March 16, 2003

By 

Jon R. Schlueter (Grand Terrace, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Prado Museum (Hardcover)

This book contains fine prints of great art from a wonderful museum. It will be valued by persons who like great art, or by people who have visited the Prado and want a momento that they can page through to jog their memory of what they saw there. Some of the prints will be new to them: the Prado's collection is so vast that only a small portion of it can be displayed at a time.
Obviously, the compilers necessarily had to be selective about what they put in the book. I liked the selection of paintings by Goya but was mildly disappointed that it did not include "Saturn". Also, the compilers have made a decision to broadly cover the artists represented at the Prado, rather than making an exhaustive compilation of some of the artists that a Prado visitor might particularly have focused on, such as El Greco, Velazquez or Goya.
This is basically a book of prints, so the accompanying text is not, to my mind, a major contribution to the value of the book. The text covers the history of the museum and how the collection came into being. It briefly discusses the different "schools" of art represented in the museum: "Spanish School", "Italian School", "German School", etc. The part of the text dedicated to Velazquez is only a page and a half long (although they are big pages). For somebody without a background in art history who wants to prepare to make their Prado visit more meaningful, I will say that I benefited from reading Tomlinson's "Fransisco Goya y Lucientes: 1746-1828" and Brown's "Velazquez".

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It took me right back to Madrid, July 19, 2011

By 

Christopher J. Alexander, Ph.D. "Christopher ... (Rio Rancho, NM USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Prado Museum (Hardcover)

The Prado Museum bookstore has an abundance of books and products, but since I travel light, at best I bought a few postcards. But I had to buy this book on Amazon, as the Prado collection is stunning.

The author devotes close to 100 pages to the Prado's history. More than a biography of a museum, however, the reader learns about the history of the region, with all this represents. When I was visiting the Prado (and I went twice), I don't recall anything that gave me a context for understanding the museum, its place in Spanish history, or how the art was acquired. Most of those questions are answered through this book. Heck, the author even includes a few architectural drawings!

The book includes over 500 photographs of paintings, including The Garden of Delights; The Crowning with Thorns; Saint Sebastian; David, Victorious over Goliath; Idyll; The Third of May, 1808, at Madrid; and of course, Las Meninas. The photographs are decent, but they don't have the 'wow' factor one can find in many art books. Each page also includes the painter, year, and dimensions, but no other descriptive text. Thus, if you want to learn more about a painting you see, you'll need to read through the book to see if its covered, or do some research on your own.

Still, the book took me straight back to Madrid, and short of being able to go yourself, this is a good introduction to the art and history of the Prado. Amazon, add a 'Look Inside the Book' in order to give prospective buyers a peak.