Francisco Pradilla (1848-1921) The splendour and decline of history painting in Spain

Room 60 in the Villanueva building  brings together a selection of eight works by Francisco Pradilla housed in the Museum. Together with the large painting Doña Juana la Loca and her sketch, exhibited in room 75, these works will enable  the visitor to make a tour of his career as a history painter, a part of his profession that gave him his greatest fame. We also celebrate the centenary of the death of this artist, who was Director of the Prado Museum.

The exhibition is sponsored by Ramón y Cajal Abogados and reflects the interest in history painting and the period for which Pradilla had a predilection, the end of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th century, presenting two stages of its production: the initial one devoted to the success of his painting Doña Juana la Loca, and the final one, between 1906 and 1910, when the genre fell into disuse.