Voces del Prado

Arriving at the Museum

María Merino Cabrera, Clerical Support, 1977-2004

My name is María Merino. I entered the museum in 1977 and was the first woman to pass a competitive examination to join the Special Unit of Subordinates.
As a child I visited the Museum with my school and my memories of that are intact. I enter the central hall and can remember the paintings I saw on the wall then, not the ones hanging there now. Las Meninas were in a separate room that was quite dark and you could first see the painting reflected in a mirror. Later, as the years went by, I would bring the girls I taught on Saturdays because entry was free in the afternoon and the school was nearby.
In my last year as a teacher, in the Tetuán district, things were difficult. I worked with youngsters aged 14 to 16 who made life anything but easy. I was burned out, very burned out, and I had always liked painting and drawing, and a relative of mine told me about some exams to enter the Prado. He told me, "There are five posts" and I thought "one will be enough" and quite so, one was all I needed.
I worked there for 28 years until I turned 70 and left because I wasn't allowed to stay on any longer. I would have stayed on till I could walk no longer.