The Central Gallery of the Prado Museum Turns Blue

The Prado National Museum has reopened its Central Gallery today, 8th October 2025, following a chromatic renovation that marks a new chapter in the history of the most representative space of the Villanueva building. The most visible change: the walls now boast a deep blue hue, designed to highlight the neoclassical architecture and enhance the vibrancy of the large canvases by Titian, Veronese, Tintoretto, and Rubens.

The intervention, carried out between September and October, also included the incorporation of sculptures by the Leoni, featuring figures of Charles V and Isabella of Portugal, and a complete revision of the museography, with new plaques, pedestals, and lighting systems. All of this, as explained by Reyes Carrasco, the general coordinator of Conservation at the Museum, is part of a "natural evolution within the Prado's action plan," aiming to "renew the way visitors experience the artworks and stimulate their perception."

The chosen colour is no coincidence. Carrasco explains that blue "helps to better understand the painting" and relates to the original setting of many works, which once adorned palaces with blue walls. Moreover, the tone carries a strong symbolic weight in art history, linked to the world of senses and emotions. The conservation team conducted various tests with different shades of blue and under different lighting conditions before deciding on the final tone, always respecting preventive conservation criteria.

The paint used, Carrasco adds, is sustainable, non-toxic, and easily reversible, allowing for future changes without damaging the walls or the artworks. "Ultimately, it is a room with many visitors, so it also needs to be a paint that is easy to clean," she states.

With this intervention, the Prado adds a new chapter to the long chronology of transformations of its Central Gallery, open since 1821 and witness to historical reforms such as the one led by Pedro Muguruza in the 1920s or the restoration of windows in 2011. The new blue, inspired by European pictorial tradition and recent exhibitions like 'El Greco, Santo Domingo el Antiguo', strengthens the museum's commitment to a living museography, capable of dialoguing with the past without forsaking innovation.