Voces del Prado

Enrique Quintana’s know how

George Bisacca, Restorer, 1985-What's on

One of the great legacies of John Brealey was Enrique Quintana. In the sense that, Enrique understood what John was doing in a very special way. He learned I think a lot from John. He understood from John the seriousness of what restoration is about. So, years later, when Enrique became Head of the restoration department, he brought that spirit from John into the department. I think he’s done such a fantastic job of elevating the professional level in that studio. His knowledge of art history and his love of paintings is fantastic. He knows his staff incredibly well; he knows their abilities and he knows which painting is appropriate for which person. It seems effortless, the way he moves around the studio. He’s always among the easels, stopping at one and offering a comment or pointing out a detail. He has a kind of presence there that he’s everywhere and nowhere. He allows people to do work on their own, but he watches everything. He’s very good at steering the quality level of work in the studio. It’s really great, and I think Enrique would agree that it’s from John that he got this.