Singularly rich in paintings by European masters from the 16th to the 19th centuries, according to art historian and hispanist Jonathan Brown "few would dare to doubt that it is the most important museum in the world in European painting."
Its main attraction lies in the wide presence of Velázquez, El Greco, Goya (the most widely represented artist in the museum), Tiziano, Rubens and El Bosco, of which he has the best and most extensive collections that exist worldwide, a what should be added outstanding sets of authors as important as Murillo, Ribera, Zurbarán, Fra Angelico, Rafael, Veronese, Tintoretto, Patinir, Antonio Moro, Van Dyck or Poussin, to name just a few of the most relevant.