MADRID.- The exhibition The Sale of the Century: Artistic Relations between Spain and Great Britain 1604-1655, on view at the Museo Nacional del Prado in Madrid until June 2, is a very educational show. The Prado in Madrid is staging a little historical drama this spring. Set in the 17th century, it is just the sort of piece which courtiers of the period might have put on for their own entertainment — except that the tale The Sale of the Century tells through its pictures is a true one. The nobles who might have acted in it are the protagonists of the plot. The curtain rises on a canvas commemorating the 1604 Somerset House conference, which after two decades of fighting, successfully concluded hostilities between England and Spain. The drama reaches its climax with the disbanding of one of the greatest art collections of the era. As Parliament liquidates royal assets, some 1,500 paintings and untold precious objects come on to the market. The sale of the century is on. Although many foreign buyers, especially princes, are reluctant to deal with regicides, there is one conspicuous exception. Alonso de Cárdenas, the Spanish Ambassador (working if not under the direct instructions of Philip IV, then at least with his knowledge) begins surreptitiously to acquire a magnificent selection of 16th-century Italian masterpieces, a number of which — including a Titian, three Correggios, a couple of Tintorettos, a pair of Raphaels and a Rubens — form the heart of this show. The last act is more a little coda than a conclusion. It presents further paintings, mainly by Veronese and Van Dyck (including one of his finest portraits), which were subsequently acquired from the British for the Spanish royal collection.

The curators of this show merit applause for reassembling for the first time a fascinating collection which not only encapsulates an intricate political drama but also illuminates the complex role that art played at that period. Paintings were the 17th-century equivalent of helicopters or polo ponies. To collect them was to increase and establish one’s social prestige.

The story that this show tells, then, is not one of creativity but of the history of art collecting (and of the Prado collection in particular) and cultural taste. The pleasure of the exhibition lies more in the interest or charm of the pieces than in the greatness of the paintings.