Voces del Prado

Don’t Touch Me with Despondency

María Teresa Dávila Álvarez, Restorer, 1982-2013

The painting cries out to you a thousand and one times. It says: “don’t touch me with despondency, don’t touch me with brusqueness. I demand that you be delicate with me”. I haven’t worked with a strict routine, because maybe one day you are more agitated or you come to work more upset. There are days when you have the hands to paint and days when you don’t. There are days when you simply have to go, because it’s impossible and nothing comes off. One day you may feel more sure of yourself and, another, more unsure. This can even occur when you’re working on the same painting. Which means, in my opinion, you can’t be tied to a strict routine.