If you’re planning school tours focusing on European art and culture, there’s nowhere better to explore than Spain‘s Museo del Prado in central Madrid. It houses one of the world’s finest collections of European art, stretching from the 12th century to the 19th century. Based on the former Spanish Royal Collection, and founded in 1785 as a museum of paintings and sculpture, it has become one of the most visited sites in the world – and a fertile ground to inspire students.
The Gallery’s History
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| Museo Del Prado |
Originally commissioned by Charles III, the building was first intended to house the Natural History Cabinet. Luckily, Charles’ grandson, Ferdinand VII, saw the potential and decided to use the building as a new Royal Museum of Paintings and Sculptures. The Royal Museum, soon known as the National Museum of Painting and Sculpture and subsequently the Museo del Prado, opened to the public for the first time in November 1819, with the double aim of showing the works of art that belonged to the Spanish Crown and to demonstrate to the rest of Europe that Spanish art was of equal merit to any other national school.
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| Inside the Museo Del Prado |
The Artworks in the Gallery
Students on school tours can view the gallery’s collection, currently comprising around 7,600 paintings, 1,000 sculptures, 4,800 prints and 8,200 drawings, in addition to plenty of other types of art and historic documents. In 2012 the Museum will be displaying about 1300 works in the main buildings, while around 3,100 works are on temporary loan to various other museums and official institutions. Perhaps the best-known work on display for those on school tours to admire is Las Meninas by Velázquez. As well as his own works, the famous artist is credited with bringing much of the museum’s collection of Italian masters to Spain.
The Educational Experience
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| Garden of Earthly Delights |
For school tours, there’s plenty on offer in the Museo del Prado. Students of many different subjects can benefit from a visit – from history through to art and culture-focused groups. With such a vast range of specialties, there are features to illustrate the evolution of art and artistic thinking across many different periods in Europe. There is guaranteed to be something to inspire your students when it comes to appreciation of history and the fine arts. Europe has been the powerhouse of Western culture for centuries, and there are few places as well placed for studying the evolution and development of cultural thinking.
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