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Prado Museum

Most famous paintings in the Prado Museum

Twelve works with their rooms, so you can go straight to what you came for.

Tickets on Tiqets from €18

Also on: GetYourGuide from €18 · Headout from €18

Room numbers come from the museum's records, in archived copies from August 2025 to October 2026, and from the esMadrid guide for The Descent from the Cross. Works move for loans and restoration, so if you're going for one in particular, check the plan before you go in.

Work Artist Room
Las Meninas Velázquez 12
The Surrender of Breda Velázquez 9A
The Nobleman with his Hand on his Chest El Greco 8B
Emperor Charles V at Mühlberg Titian —
The Three Graces Rubens 29
David with the Head of Goliath Caravaggio 7A
The Third of May Goya 64
The Second of May Goya 64
Saturn Goya 67
The Garden of Earthly Delights Bosch 56A
The Death of the Virgin Mantegna 56B
The Descent from the Cross Van der Weyden 58

What to look for in Las Meninas

It dates from 1656 and stands more than three metres high. The Infanta Margarita takes the centre, surrounded by the ladies-in-waiting who keep her company, the meninas. Velázquez painted himself in front of a large canvas, looking straight at you. Check the mirror at the back: that's the king and queen, perhaps posing for him.

Picasso devoted a whole series to the painting in 1957. Those versions aren't here: they're in the Museu Picasso in Barcelona.

Get close to The Garden of Earthly Delights

This triptych dates from 1490 to 1500, and its outer panels are in grisaille. Take your time and stand close, because it's packed with tiny scenes: erotic rituals, tortures, fantastic animals. The Surrealists, Dalí among them, kept it very much in mind.

Goya: two canvases and a room of his own

In The Third of May, from 1814, soldiers in grey uniforms aim at civilians about to die. Look at the hands and eyes of each figure: the fear is different in every one. It hangs in the same room as The Second of May.

Saturn is one of the Black Paintings, from 1820 to 1823. That cycle has its own room, 67.

Two more on your way through

Titian's Charles V marks the victory at Mühlberg in 1547. The armour the emperor wears survives in the Royal Palace, so you can see it later on a visit to the palace. In The Three Graces, Rubens painted his second wife, Helena Fourment.

To plan your visit, see Prado tickets and the free hours.

Frequently asked questions

Where is Las Meninas?

In the Prado Museum in Madrid, Room 12, on the first floor.

Where is The Garden of Earthly Delights?

In the Prado Museum, Room 56A, on the ground floor. It's a triptych by Bosch dated between 1490 and 1500.

Where are Picasso's Las Meninas?

In the Museu Picasso in Barcelona. Picasso painted his series in Cannes in 1957 and gave it to the museum in 1968.

Can you take photos of the paintings in the Prado?

No. Photography and filming aren't allowed in the Prado's galleries.

Sources

Facts taken from the official websites, quoted in their original language. Has something changed? Write to info@museums.es.

  1. Official website: Museo Nacional del Prado
  2. web.archive.org/web/20260929045556/https://www.museodelprado.es/colecc — Las meninas 1656. Óleo sobre lienzo, 320,3 x 279,1 cm Sala 012
  3. web.archive.org/web/20261011122442/https://www.museodelprado.es/en/the — 1490 - 1500. Grisaille, Oil on oak panel. Room 056A
  4. web.archive.org/web/20260831223553/https://www.museodelprado.es/en/the — 1814. Oil on canvas. Room 064
  5. web.archive.org/web/20260718033924/https://www.museodelprado.es/en/the — This portrait commemorates Charles V’s victory over the Schmalkaldic League at Mühlberg on 24 April 1547.
  6. web.archive.org/web/20260912230745/https://www.museodelprado.es/en/the — Ca. 1635. Oil on canvas. Room 009A
  7. web.archive.org/web/20260820035132/https://www.museodelprado.es/en/the — Room 029 ( On Display )
  8. web.archive.org/web/20260807113606/https://www.museodelprado.es/en/the — Room 008B ( On Display )
  9. web.archive.org/web/20250817140207/https://www.museodelprado.es/en/iti — Saturn Goya y Lucientes, Francisco de Mixed method on wall covering 1820 - 1823 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado Sala 067
  10. web.archive.org/web/20250817140207/https://www.museodelprado.es/en/iti — David with the Head of Goliath Caravaggio. Michelangelo Merisi Oil on canvas Ca. 1600 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado Sala 007A
  11. web.archive.org/web/20250817140207/https://www.museodelprado.es/en/iti — The Death of the Virgin Mantegna, Andrea Mixed method on panel Ca. 1462 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado Sala 056B
  12. esmadrid.com/sites/default/files/guia_paseo_del_arte_imprescindible.pd — Planta 1 - Sala 12
  13. esmadrid.com/sites/default/files/guia_paseo_del_arte_imprescindible.pd — Planta 0 - Sala 58
  14. esmadrid.com/sites/default/files/guia_paseo_del_arte_imprescindible.pd — Por cierto, esa armadura se conserva en el Palacio Real de Madrid.
  15. esmadrid.com/sites/default/files/guia_paseo_del_arte_imprescindible.pd — Hoy sabemos que la segunda mujer del artista, Helena Fourment, posó para este cuadro de contenido erótico.
  16. museupicassobcn.cat/en/whats-on/discover-online/chronology-las-meninas — Oil on canvas. 194 x 260 cm. Gift of Pablo Picasso, 1968. Museu Picasso, Barcelona.

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