Voces del Prado

Early Working Years

María Teresa Dávila Álvarez, Restorer, 1982-2013

When I joined the Restoration Workshop, my sister Rocío was already there. Rafael Alonso and Alfredo Piñeiro were also there at that time, and Javier Carrión was also there for a number of years. At that time I would receive a series of marvellous photographs from the laboratory. Not only for the curators, but also for the Restoration Workshop. This documentation was marvellous. The lab was run by Carlos Manso. We were a real team. There was a restorer, Teresa, who was more closely linked to the incipient Technical Department, which was initially run by Carmen Garrido.
I joined for the Mengs Exhibition, which was being prepared by curator [Xavier de] Salas. I think I restored one or two works for this exhibition, but, then later, I stayed on as part of the staff. I don’t remember which Mengs pictures exactly. Some portrait. However, I do remember that, through the auspices of Pita Andrade, Alfonso Pérez Sánchez and the entire management team, it was decided that I would restore Philip IV As a Hunter by Velázquez