Starting next week visitors to Madrid will be able to view a first-ever exhibition when The Palace of the Planet: King Philip IV and the Buen Retiro opens at the Museo del Prado on July 6. Timed to coincide with the 400th anniversary of King Philip IV`s birth, the exhibition will showcase 62 paintings - many from the Prado and two rarely-viewed works by Velazquez on loan from other collections - and is the first to analyze the main cycles of paintings that adorned the Buen Retiro Palace. Philip IV`s reign coincided with one of Spain`s most brilliant periods of artistic and literary creation - the full flowering of its Golden Age with towering figures like Velazquez and Calderon - and the construction of the palace was an eloquent symbol of the monarch`s fame as a promoter of the arts. Once stretching across the entire eastern side of the city, today only the Cason del Buen Retiro (currently undergoing renovation as an annex of the Prado) and the Army Museum remain in the Retiro Park.

Promoted by Philip IV`s favorite, the Count Duke of Olivares, the building was designed to symbolize Spain`s triumphs - and the greater glory of the Planet King - at a time when it still seemed the country would emerge victoriously from the various wars it was engaged in. One of the most important artistic endeavors of its day, and the most complex undertaken by a Spanish ruler, the Buen Retiro Palace`s pictorial decoration - more than 800 paintings - was amassed in less than ten years (1634-1643.) Through commissions ordered in Rome, Naples, Antwerp and Madrid, Philip IV assembled this impressive collection of modern art specifically destined for the new royal residence.

Curated by Andres Ubeda de los Cobos, the show is divided into five sections presenting the various decorative cycles created for the Buen Retiro Palace:

The Buen Retiro Palace - Opening the exhibition, the works show panoramic views of the exterior, Diego Velazquez` portrait of the Planet King, Philip IV as a Hunter (1634-36) associating the monarch with the sun and Prince Baltasar Carlos` Riding Lesson from a private collection in the United Kingdom.

The Ancient Rome Cycle - Never before exhibited in its entirety and largely unknown to scholars, these works by Jusepe Ribera and Nicolas Poussin as well as some of the day`s leading Italian painters, Giovanni Lanfranco and Domenichino, depict ancient Rome`s customs.

The Count Duke, Furies and Jesters - Velazquez` portrait of Count Duke of Olivares presides over this section which includes two canvases of furies by Ribera and four of the six court jester studies Velazquez painted for the palace including The Court Jester Calabazas from the Cleveland Museum of Art never before displayed at the Prado.

The Hall of Realms - The centerpiece of the exhibition in the Prado`s Central Gallery is a recreation of the Buen Retiro`s most important space where Philip IV celebrated festive events and welcomed ambassadors. Here visitors will find the three most important decorative cycles intended to glorify the Spanish King. For the first time since the Peninsular War when the Palace suffered significant damage eleven of the original twelve large battle paintings will be shown together. Representing the victories of Philip`s army is: The Surrender of Breda by Velazquez. Ten mythological scenes of the Labors of Hercules by Francisco de Zurbaran and five equestrian portraits of the royal family by Velazquez are also presented here for the first time since the 18th century.

The Landscapes Gallery - The Buen Retiro contained a remarkable collection of 40 landscapes commissioned in Rome including some of the finest classical works by Nicholas Poussin and Claude Lorraine which are on display here.

The Palace of the Planet King: Philip IV and the Buen Retiro will run through November 27, 2005.