Voces del Prado

The great priority

José María Luzón Nogué, Museum Director, 1994-1996

All the projects have side notes describing the various elements, what the Italians called the didascalia. It is very interesting. They had a clear picture of what a museum was and what it was for. What was the priority in a museum? Research and study.
In museums with paintings, they were also to be used for copying, because the reason behind the Prado Museum is for artists who do not have access to be able to see the paintings in the royal collections, and they are exhibited so that they can be seen, so that they can study them and copy them.
I think now the stress is on research, but it wasn't the case when the collection was in the hands of artists, this being said with all due respect. Here we have had prominent artists who have been directors of the Museum, but research is much more recent.
If we consider the history of the Prado Museum, when research on collections began, when it received a boost, I'd say it happened with Pérez Sánchez, Angulo... That's when it happened. The Prado already had a great deal of history behind it. What was lacking in the conception and in projects involving Spanish museums, not only this one, was the understanding that museums are for research. It's a mistake to think that a Museum is successful when a lot of people come to visit it.
There are other things that need to be measured in a Museum.