15 February to 18 September 2011

Room 74

Nero and Seneca is on temporary on display in the Museum’s famous circular gallery known as the “Ariadne Rotunda”. Over the years the sculpture had been displayed and stored in unsuitable conditions. Together with the particularly fragile nature of the plaster of which it is made, this meant that various fragments were missing and that it had generally deteriorated. As a result, its recent restoration at the Museum was a particularly complex operation.

Displayed for the first time next to this newly restored sculpture is a little-known, smaller version of it, made by Barrón and given by him to the politician Antonio Maura in thanks for his help in ensuring the publication of the catalogue of sculptures in the Prado. This smaller version, on temporary deposit from the Fundación Antonio Maura (inv. no. 242), has survived completely unrestored in almost perfect condition. It reveals the original polychromy and the complexity, remarkable use of detail and technical mastery that characterise the making of this work.