‘The only delight of my life’: the collection of Pablo Bosch (1841–1915) and its bequest to the Museo del Prado

Abstract

Abstract The collection of Pablo Bosch, bequeathed to the Museo del Prado in 1915, was one of the most prestigious in early twentieth-century Spain. To date, no detailed study of it has been undertaken. Documentary sources allow for a reconstruction of Bosch’s life and his network of contacts, revealing his artistic preferences and notably his taste for early Flemish painting. Information provided by his correspondence also supports a reconstruction of his two principal collections (paintings, and coins and medals) and new data on many of the works that he owned is published here. An analysis of legal documents and the minutes of the meetings of the museum’s board of trustees provides more detailed information on the Prado’s management of the bequest from 1915 and permits some suggestions to be formulated regarding the decisions taken by Bosch in his several wills.