WITH 3.5 million visitors last year, a historic record for the Madrid museum, El Prado could have relaxed slightly in 2026 – it has, however, done the opposite.
With a dozen exhibitions coming to El Prado in the next twelve months, the museum is utilising its collection of over 20,000 works of art to cover everything from 17th century royalty to photography to the story of its own evolution.
General admission to the museum costs 15 with reduced prices and free entry available for certain groups. All visitors can gain free tickets during the last two hours before closing everyday.
Here are five of the 2026 shows that you must not miss…
Mariana of Austria (December 1 2026 – March 28 2027)
The first El Prado exhibition devoted to a female art patron will open on December 1 and put the spotlight on Mariana of Austria, Queen consort of Spain.
Living and ruling in the 17th century, Mariana was a great artistic promoter of her time whose life and power will be traced in this exhibition.
Through a selection of approximately 100 works, the iconographic strategies used by Mariana and her court painters to construct a public image that strengthened her authority will be explored.
These works will be placed within the wider political context of the time which was one of the most decisive periods in the history of the Spanish monarchy because of the Empire’s decline.
As the last queen of the Habsburg dynasty, Mariana knew how to adapt the visual legacy that her ancestors created, reinterpreting their models to claim her own place in history.
All this, and more, is set to be explored in this historic exhibition.
Ricardo de Madrazo (1852-1917): drawings and watercolours (October 19 2026 – January 17 2027)
Another first will come with El Prado’s Ricardo de Madrazo exhibition which will be entirely devoted to the artist who has never had his own showcase before.
Opening on October 19, it will look at the youngest son of Federico de Madrozo who is the least known member of this family filled with artists.
A reunion of his sketchbooks, drawings and watercolours will reveal the diversity of Ricardo de Madrazo’s work and highlight his travels across Spain, Europe and North Africa.
Years of acquiring Madrazo’s art has led to this exhibition which will run into 2027.
Prado. 21st Century (June 9 – September 27 2026)
For those interested in how El Prado boosted its visitor numbers, ‘Prado. 21st Century’ will show how the museum has evolved over the last 25 years.
Using work acquired during this period and a series of comparisons, the exhibition looks at El Prado’s international reach, scholarly mission, communicative strength and reception by society as a whole.
Homing in on its ‘remarkable collection’ and ‘close relationship with its visitors’, the spectacle uses a selection of El Prado’s acquisitions and objects that reflect ‘different facets of this transformation’ such as corporate image, conservation and the participation of society in the museum’s evolution.
To finish this exhibition, which runs from June 9 to September 27, a survey of a number of the Museum’s departments and their activities will be presented.
If you are not only interested in the art hung on El Prado’s walls but also in the day to day operations of a high-performing museum, then this exhibition is a must see.
Hans Baldung Grien (November 24 2026 – March 7 2027)
Born into a family of lawyers and humanists, art was Hans Buldung Grien’s calling.
He became known for his mythological and historical scenes which were both visually and intellectually daring.
El Prado holds two of Grien’s works dating from 1541-44.
Gifted to Jean de Ligne in 1547, Harmony (The Three Graces?) and The Ages and Death, look at poetic forms of beauty and the cycle of life respectively.
In this upcoming El Prado exhibition the panels will be located within an artistic panorama – not through reconstruction but by exploring the landscape that the artist was in towards the end of his career.
For those intrigued by museum curation there is even more reason to take a trip to El Prado for this exhibit as it will also include a section devoted to the cleaning of these works and the discoveries that were made about the creative process during their preparation.
Witness Grien’s work from November 24 to March 7.
The artist’s world through the camera (April 13 – July 5 2026)
If it’s photography that catches your eye, you must visit El Prado between April 13 and July 5 when the work of 19th and early 20th century photographers will be exhibited.
Taken from a time when photography was on the rise, these images trace a map of artists in their domestic contexts, studios and spaces of social interaction and learning.
The exhibition features renowned professional photos alongside anonymous and amateur works with the intention of paying tribute to creators who successfully represented reality.
While doing so, El Prado features those who recognise photography as a privileged medium for ensuring the preservation of their image and artistic practice over time.
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