The Casón del Buen Retiro is an annex of the Museo del Prado complex in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

. Following major restoration work, which was completed in October 2007,Library and study centre
Museo del Prado. Retrieved 25 May 2013. it now houses the Museum's study centre (the Escuela del Prado) and library. Picasso's 1937 '' Guernica'' canvas, and the sketches associated with its creation, were displayed at the Casón from 1981, when it was delivered to Spain from New York's

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

(MoMA), to 1992, when it was moved to its current permanent location in a purpose-built gallery at the

Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía The ''Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía'' ("Queen Sofía National Museum Art Centre"; MNCARS) is Spain's national museum of 20th-century art. The museum was officially inaugurated on September 10, 1992, and is named for Queen Sofía. It ...

."Un millón de personas ha visto el 'Guernica' en el Casón del Buen Retiro"
'' El País''. Retrieved 25 May 2013.

History

The Casón del Buen Retiro was originally built as the ballroom in the 17th century, the ''Salón de Baile'', of the

Buen Retiro Palace Buen Retiro Palace (Spanish: ''Palacio del Buen Retiro'') in Madrid was a large palace complex designed by the architect Alonso Carbonell (c. 1590–1660) and built on the orders of Philip IV of Spain as a secondary residence and place of recrea ...

, of which now only two buildings, the Casón and the Salón de Reinos still remain. The Casón is located in front of the Puerta de Felipe IV entrance on the west side of Retiro Park. The artistic importance of

Luca Giordano Luca Giordano (18 October 1634 – 3 January 1705) was an Italian late-Baroque painter and printmaker in etching. Fluent and decorative, he worked successfully in Naples and Rome, Florence, and Venice, before spending a decade in Spain. Earl ...

's ''The Allegory of the Golden Fleece'', a c. 1694 fresco on the ceiling of the Casón commissioned by King

Charles II of Spain Charles II of Spain (''Spanish: Carlos II,'' 6 November 1661 – 1 November 1700), known as the Bewitched (''Spanish: El Hechizado''), was the last Habsburg ruler of the Spanish Empire. Best remembered for his physical disabilities and the War ...

, is one of the possible reasons given for the building having survived when most of the other Bueno Retiro palace complex buildings were demolished in the 19th century. The fresco is considered one of the masterpieces of the Prado's collection.

Museums

From 1877 to 1960 the Casón was used as the ''Museo de Reproducciones Artísticas'', set up by the then President of the Government, Antonio Canovas del Castillo, until it was moved to the ''

Museo de América The (English: Museum of America) is a Spanish national museum of arts, archaeology and ethnography in Madrid. Its collections cover the whole of the Americas and range from the Paleolithic period to the present day. It is owned by the Spanish S ...

''. The building was then used as a temporary exhibition space until 1971. From 1971 to 1981 it was used by the Museo del Prado for the 19th-century collections paintings and sculptures which had formerly been in the '' Museo de Arte Moderno''. From 1981 to 1992 the Casón housed Picasso’s ''Guernica'' painting, now in the ''

Museo Reina Sofía Museo may refer to: * Museo, 2018 Mexican drama heist film *Museo (Naples Metro) Museo is a station on line 1 of the Naples Metro. It was opened on 5 April 2001 as the eastern terminus of the section of the line between Vanvitelli and Museo. ...

''.

Library

The library of the Museo del Prado, on the ground floor of the Casón building, consists of the Reading Room for the use of researchers, the museum's technical staff and students of the Escuela del Prado, and the book stores located in the basements. It comprises some 70,000 books, including those acquired from two private collections, those of José María Cervelló and of the Daza-Madrazo family, the latter mostly books belonging to the painter

José de Madrazo José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacu ...

, director of the Museo del Prado from 1838 to 1851.

Escuela del Prado

The Escuela del Prado is a school of the Museo del Prado housed in the Casón building.

Restoration work

From 1997 to 2007, the Casón building was closed for remodelling and enlargement.The Casón del Buen Retiro: History
Museo del Prado. Retrieved 25 May 2013. Projects included the excavation of two new floors, resulting in almost double the preexisting space.The re-modelling and enlargement
Museo del Prado. Retrieved 25 May 2013.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cason del Buen Retiro Buildings and structures in Jerónimos neighborhood, Madrid Art museums and galleries in Madrid Museo del Prado Museums in Madrid Palaces in Madrid Bien de Interés Cultural landmarks in Madrid Buildings and structures completed in the 1630s Neoclassical architecture in Madrid