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When I joined the Restoration Workshop, you couldn’t really say there was a workshop at all. There were just two people working in an attic, with a lot of old junk lying around. But there was no clean and clear presentation, there were no unified criteria. There was no workshop, just two restorers working. It wasn’t until 1980 or 1981 that the group really started to come together, when the first members of the new generation began to take over. And we began to work in unison, unifying our criteria based on John Brealey’s stay with us. And afterwards, all of us who stayed behind working there experienced a very rapid and intense development.
We’ve had some very difficult moments. A few years ago we had a dreadful period. But, fortunately, work took over and here we are. We have taken on a series of increasingly difficult works. I believe that the restorations that have been carried out in recent years at the Museo del Prado provide a true point of reference throughout the world. They are a veritable model of know-how, ethics and professionalism, reflecting the personal endeavour of my colleagues when it comes to taking on truly risky assignments, with some spectacular results. You can now see that practically the whole collection has been restored, and you can contemplate everything as a whole. The Museum has progressed from being an antiquated nineteenth century dinosaur to an up-to-date museum of the twenty-first century. All of the confidence and trust I now have in my colleagues seems like a conquest, a true Copernican revolution.
He works at the Restoration Workshop of the Museo del Prado, specializing in the works of El Greco. He is also Professor of Restoration at the Official School of Applied Arts in Madrid, and he received the National Prize for Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Goods in 2010.
Interview recorded on April 19, 2018
