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Oral history
Voices of the Prado
Oral history through the experience of the people who have devoted their day to day to the institution.A documentary archive in process with video interviews with workers and collaborators from the 1940s to the present day.
In the first person
“I came in 1983 to establish an Education department that did not exist”
Alicia Quintana
Head of the Education Service, 1983-2007
Recommended theme
Words that say what we are
Use the word search to find moving, real-life stories.
Teamwork
“The Prado was a great sleeping lion. Between us all we had to wake it up.”
Gabriele Finaldi
Assistant Director of Conservation and Research, 2002-2015
Recommended theme
Restoration of Las Meninas
1984 when Alfonso Pérez Sánchez was Director, Las Meninas were restored, a significant event in the history of the museum since it is such an iconic work.
The arrival of John Brealey form the Metropolitan to help with the process was a source of public and political comments.
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Javier Solana
Member of the Royal Board of Trustees of the Museo del Prado, 2019-Up to date
“The Prime Minister said to me: governments can fall for many reasons, if we don’t restore Las Meninas well, then that’ll be it for us.”
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Rafael Alonso
Restorer, 1978-2016
“I didn’t see any of the restoration process for Las Meninas because I refused to”
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A typical morning in 1943
“My grandmother handed me my grandfather’s breakfast and I went up the main staircase with it. The Museum was almost empty”
José Torreblanca Prieto
Grandson of José Prieto, Lead Concierge, 1936-1948
Recommended theme
The impact of the Guernica
(1981-1992)
In 1981, the Guernica by Picasso was transferred form the MOMA in New York to the Casón del Buen Retiro, it represents one of the most significant moments of the cultural transition.
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Carmen Garrido
Head of the Technical Office, 1982-2012
“I had to work uncomfortably in a small room where that huge roll was being kept. We started by undoing the small ones and behind me in a corner, there was a guardia civil, with his machine gun”
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Felipe Garín
Museum Director, 1991-1993
“We chose the day and the hour (…) and three alternative routes were studied in order to prevent someone setting up explosives as had been done in the case of Carrero Blanco”
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Responsibility in the galleries
“I was once really frightened. I didn’t think about my personal safety but about the danger the work was in”
Conchi Montero Velasco
General Services Assistant, 1970-2014
Recommended search
I'm still learning
The learning acquired over the course of an entire lifetime devoted to the Museum.
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Manuela Mena Marqués
Head of the Department of Conservation of 18th Century Painting and Goya, 1978-2019
“When you look at a work of art you’re thinking about who you are and who everyone else is”
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Rafael Alonso
Restorer, 1978-2016
“Even after so many years’ experience I still feel nervous when starting a restoration. The older you are the more you realise you don’t actually know anything and that you have to learn every day”
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Leap into the void
“I worked at the Museum until I retired. So, 20 years and 6 months less 3 days”
Pilar Silva Maroto
Head of the Department of Conservation of Flemish Painting and the Northern Schools up to 1700, 1997-2017
Recommended search
Life-changing challenges
Experiences that exceed expectations, the turning point in the story.
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Gabriele Finaldi
Assistant Director of Conservation and Research, 2002-2015
“When I agreed to come to Madrid it was even clear what position I’d have. I came for three months and stayed for more than ten years”
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Felicitas Martínez
Administrative Technician, 1971-2018
“I never thought the Museo del Prado would be my destiny but now, fifty years on, I wouldn’t give up a single one of the moments I experienced in it”
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In the first person
“I came into conflict with successive State authorities until I reached the highest echelons of the government. Not the Prime Minister’s office, but almost”
Francisco Calvo Serraller
Museum Director, 1993-1994
Interviews use
The MNP’s oral history is created with the express consent of the interviewees to express their opinion within the oral history frame, all rights reserved by the MNP.
The MNP is not responsible of the comments, judgments, opinions or contents registered in these interviews nor does it necessary share the opinions and content expresses. Legal responsibility falls on the interviewee.
Voces del Prado