Voces del Prado

The challenge of transferring the Guernica

Felipe Garín Llombart, Museum Director, 1991-1993

It was essential that everything be done right, and we had to take exceptional measures for that purpose. From the standpoint of a Museum Curator, it is a many-sided challenge. First of all, we decided not to roll up the canvas again because it is a very delicate picture. That meant we had to transfer a painting of around 7 m across and 4 m tall, if my memory is correct, something that large is hard to transport and it involved preparing the door to take it out. We also had to prepare the painting to make up for the frailness of the frame. It was made up by a grid that lacked a powerful structure on the outside to keep the canvas firm and to protect a painting that can move around like a sail. So an external frame was added to the original frame. We prepared a lorry that was high enough for the whole picture to fit in it. We studied the path, and protected the whole picture against any possible attacks. We're talking about 1992, a time when there still might be somebody wishing to seek revenge, taking advantage of the fact that the painting was being removed from its protective shelter. We chose the day and the route. The day was chosen deliberately, if I remember correctly it was July 26, 1992, the day after the inauguration of the Olympic Games in Barcelona, in order to tone down the media exposure and to have it coincide with another important worldwide event such as the Olympics. After that, two or three alternative routes were studied that were never mentioned publicly in order to prevent someone setting up explosives as had been done in the case of Carrero Blanco. The route was covered, it was taken to the Reina Sofía, unloaded, taken on the elevator to the floor where it was placed, and where it was kept until a few years ago, whereas it is now exhibited without any special protection as a normal item in the Museum, an indication that in Spain the sensitivity towards art, Picasso, the Guernica and the Civil War has declined. It was a significant challenge in my life as a Museum Curator.