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The place where the Romanesque chapel is located now, all of that area made up the Restoration Workshop. There was a patio, one that still exists but isn’t used today, where the restorers would go outside to smoke and have a break from their work, and then they’d go back in. I’m talking 1949, approximately. I don’t know whose idea it was, but around thirty people gathered together on that patio: all of the restorers, the Director, the Assistant Director, the conservators, the people who sold photographs at the stands inside the Museum and the people who worked in the offices. The patio is quite small and narrow, and they all lined up between the Restoration Workshop door and the small flight of steps which led down to the patio, including my father. That’s where they all had their photograph taken. That photo was taken by Manolo’s father [Manuel Olivares] with a 9 x 12 cm camera, and it was a marvellous photo.
He joined the Museo del Prado as an art photographer, working there for four decades. He is the son of David Manso, the Museum's first police officer and also its first photographer.
Interview recorded on May 10, 2015
