The first-timer's guide to Prado Museum paintings

One of Velazquez's largest paintings, Las Meninas was created to convey a sense of life and reality with a complex network of meanings. This dense composition also holds the honor of being the only artwork to which writer Antonio Palomino dedicated a separate section in his book on the history of Spanish painters.

The Black Paintings is a collection of fourteen paintings by Francisco Goya. The paintings were done by Goa in the later years of his life somewhere between 1819 and 1823. As the name suggests, the Black Paintings showcase intense, haunting themes that reflect Goya's dire outlook of humanity and growing fear of insanity.

This majestic piece of art was part of a collection of seven altarpieces requested for the royal church of San Pascual Bailon in 1767. The altarpieces showcase the complete pictorial decoration of this Alcantarine Franciscan church, which features an austere classical style.

This bust-length portrait was donated to the museum by the widow of the Duke of Arco. Painted in Toledo around 1580, and the painting is the most famous in a series of secular portraits of an unknown gentleman dressed in black and wearing white ruffs, against dark backgrounds.

The Garden of Earthly Delights is arguably Bosch’s most iconic and enigmatic creation. The overarching theme of The Garden of Earthly Delights is the fate of humanity. While the theme is similar to The Haywain, Bosch represents this concept quite differently in a more explicit manner.

This portrait celebrates Charles V's victory over the Schmalkaldic League at Mühlberg in 1547. The detailed artwork spotlights his suit of armor, which has an image of the Virgin and Child on the breastplate, as was the norm with Charles' armor from 1531.

This portrait celebrates Charles V's victory over the Schmalkaldic League at Mühlberg in 1547. The detailed artwork spotlights his suit of armor, which has an image of the Virgin and Child on the breastplate, as was the norm with Charles' armor from 1531.

A painting by legendary Dutch master Rembrandt, Judith at the Banquet of Holofernes is another highlight of the Prado Museum. While the subject of the picture wasn't clear for centuries, it's believed to be Sophonisba or Artemisia. Many also identify the painting as featuring a generic queen given her jewels and rich garments, receiving a cup from a maiden.

This painting showcases a cup or a salt cellar with a gold-enameled sculpture adorned with rubies and diamonds held by a figure. The figure is a double-tailed mermaid with a gold torso and a translucent green enameled tail. She wears a headdress of enameled feathers and her open arms hold an agate vessel adorned with rubies with a heap of enameled leaves.