cover image The Prado

The Prado

Santiago Alcolea Blanch, Museo Del Prado. ABRAMS, $95 (474pp) ISBN 978-0-8109-3715-4

One of Europe's finest museums, the Prado in Madrid boasts masterpieces by El Greco, Velazquez, Titian, Raphael, Rubens, Watteau and Gainsborough, to name a few. This tony album lets one trace Goya's years of exile in Bordeaux, stumble into Bosch's fiery allegorical world and confront the intense, defiant gaze of Durer's Self-Portrait . There are a few modernist works here (Picasso, Miro), but emphasis is on the 15th through 19th centuries, with paintings organized by school (Spanish, Italian, German, etc.) so that readers can follow the evolution of each national style. With 275 color reproductions plus essays on each school and a ponderous 102-page history of the museum by Spanish art historian Blanch, the album is studded with delightful surprises, including Spanish artist Mariano Fortuny (1838-1874), who must rank as one of Europe's great lyric painters. BOMC featured dividend. (Dec.)