In 1995 a bank asked me to organise an exhibition on Goya in Spanish collections, nothing from the Prado’s collection. I got a lot of loans from private collections, taking advantage of the good relations I had with various friends. The bank had signed a restoration agreement with Toledo cathedral and we asked the Cardinal Archbishop for the loan of The Taking of Christ [El prendimiento] and of course he couldn’t say no. But there were also very rarely seen paintings as they came from private collections, normally hung on the walls of private houses or in some Church property. When we held the press conference I said: “So, this exhibition is a foretaste of the exhibitions that will be taking place next year to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Goya’s birth.” In fact, no one had noticed that date and at that point the Ministry said, “What’s all this? We haven’t got anything organised! We’ll have to do something like we did with Velázquez. We absolutely must. Who’s the person to do this?”
Collaborator with the Museo del Prado since 1969; he passed the state exam to become a conservator in 1980. In 1986, he was appointed Head of the Department of French, English and German Painting, and has been the Head of the Department of 18th Century Painting since 2003.
Interview recorded on June 11, 2018