Voces del Prado

El Greco. A discovery and the dream of a lifetime

Carmen Garrido Pérez, Head of the Technical Office, 1982-2012

For instance, ever since I was a little girl I was fascinated by Velázquez. But when I came to the Prado and started studying El Greco. Not that I didn't know him, but there are so many occasions in which you see a painting attributed to El Greco that says nothing at all to you, because there are so many copies and atelier works, that when I finally got a thorough look of the real Greco in 1980, studying The Disrobing of Christ, at the Cathedral of Toledo, you become fully aware that you are standing before a huge painter.
Recently, shortly before finishing our book on El Greco that was published in 2015, I fulfilled the dream of a lifetime, doing the Modena Triptych. A huge experience. We went from very large works to an absolute miniature, the Modena Triptych. It was a memorable day, with snow up to our waist, and it was very hard to make it to Modena. With the help of Professor Bertani, who helped us an awful lot with infrared light, new methods, new equipment, we were able to work on such a small triptych. I remember I reflected, This was a great painter from start to finish. It's often been said that painters are not so good in their early days but a good painter is good right from the beginning to the end. They develop their technique, they evolve. It's happened to me with many painters that when I get to know their work, I have had a closer grasp, I feel even greater respect for those artists.