The last director, the last one that I enjoyed working for, the one who was there the longest, Zugaza, I think he really got the Museum going. I think the Prado Museum needs a director like Zugaza. There was nothing very academic in what he did. He set up exhibitions, but he was mainly a man who moved around, meeting people, raising money without abandoning his academic background. I think that's the most feasible type of management.
People can say, "Well there is an academic director and there is a manager." No, the manager is a whole different thing. A manager is for keeping the Museum running on the inside. But someone has to move around outside the Museum. For instance, Isabella the Catholic and Ferdinand. Isabella the Catholic was the one who glittered. The Great Master of the Order of Calatrava had died and she was the one who mounted on her white horse to have her husband appointed as the Great Master of the Order. And yet Ferdinand was behind the counter tending to the public, but the one who shone was Isabella.
What we need is someone like Isabella the Catholic, a queen, but one who gets things done.
Secondary education professor, she joined the Museum under the leadership of Alfonso Pérez Sánchez to create the Office of Education, the origin of the today's Education Area. In 1986, she was appointed Head of the Education and Teaching Department.
Interview recorded on June 04, 2018