A Rich Legacy Built by All

Rocío Dávila Álvarez, Restorer, 1974-2015

Given that we were very few people, we were totally involved in the life of the Museum. It was like our home. If you had to come at any particular time, you did whatever you had to do to come; everybody was prepared to do the same. It was a good time. But I think people tend to give of themselves generously at the Prado, and I believe the same applies today. All of you, especially young people, are full of enthusiasm, and that is quite normal. The good thing about the Museum was that all of us working in preservation and restoration got on very well together. We helped one another a lot, because thanks to the conservators, we were able to gain a much better idea of the situation of particular work, the period in which it was created, its influences, why it was created. We were able to provide a more material-based perspective; for example, how it was made. And we were able to grow and develop together, so it was really a joint labour, because things are never done individually. It’s a joint endeavour involving a number of people: the technical department, the whole laboratory, Carmen Garrido, Manuela Mena, etc. All of us who worked there were more or less the same age, and we were all working there at the same time, which means that everything that emerged was built up and accumulated. It means you have a more in-depth knowledge of the work of art. It’s a rich legacy that has been built by one and all.