Renowned as the largest art gallery in the world, the Prado houses sculptures, drawings, coins, and other works of art but it is its incomparable collection of paintings which had drawn fame worlwide. Included in its store of more than 8600 paintings are works by members of the Italian, Flemish, Spanish, French, Dutch, and German schools. The history of the museum began during the reign of Charles III, but it did not really concretize as an institution until the reign of Fernando VII, under whom the Royal Museum of Painting and Sculpture was founded in 1819. With the disapearance of the Spanish monarchy, the Museum became national property and was renamed the Prado Museum. Only a tenth of the Prado s immense collection of works are normally on show. 319 illustrations