Excerpt from The Art of the Prado, 1907: A Survey of the Contents of the Gallery, Together
The erection of the Prado was begun early in the eighteenth century by Charles III, who employed his architect, Juan de Villaneuva, for the work; but, owing to various interruptions, chiefly political, the building was not actually completed until about 100 years later, the first rooms being opened to the public in 1819.
Of the Prado Museum by far the most important part is the art gallery which contains a collection estimated at about 2,000 paintings.
The nucleus of the collection was formed by Ferdinand II, who gathered together all the paintings from his various palaces except the Escorial. The collection was greatly enriched by the art-loving Charles V and his son Philip II, and, later, by Philip V, who added a large number of French pictures of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
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