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In some ways the arrival of Guernica marked a turbulent time for the Museum. I wasn’t really au fait with internal politics but Pita Andrade, the director, suddenly resigned in September, or maybe early October, I can’t exactly remember. Normally the deputy director became the next director. That had been the case since the time of Sánchez Cantón and just about everyone thought that when Pita Andrade resigned the deputy director, who was Pérez Sanchez, would become the director. But an appointment was made, that of Federico Sopeña, which led to Pérez Sánchez resigning at a time when I was in hospital as I had a health problem which meant I had to have an urgent operation. Maybe this was because he expecting it or thought he ought to be the next director, as the person appointed was not really an art history specialist but a musicologist, a very prominent one, but not specifically an art historian.
So I remember that when I returned to work just a few days after leaving hospital I was came back feeling very worried as I didn’t really know what I would be doing. I had been working with the deputy director but there wasn’t one any more. So I remember I came across Manuela Mena, with whom I had worked on various publications and texts and I said, “Manuela, please, can I come and work with you. I don’t know who will be the next deputy director, but I would rather work with you.” They had already offered her the deputy directorship but she didn’t say a word to me. She kept it secret. From then on until 1996 we worked together extremely happily.
She joined the Museum as typist and secretary to the directors, then going on to the Documentation and Archives Area in 1973, where she is responsible for the systematic filing of reports from the Restoration workshop, among other duties.
Interview recorded on May 03, 2018
