Voces del Prado

Innocent X by Velázquez

Inmaculada Echeverría Elvira, Head of the Technical Documentation and Laboratory Section, 1985-2024

It was a tremendous opportunity to be able to see Innocent X by Velázquez, being able to contemplate it in person. They placed it in a very significant area, in the hall where Arianne is displayed. We adapted the lighting to that of the place where it was painted. In those days we used a rheostat to grade the lighting and the impression we achieved was that of candlelight. I would say that my favourite painter is Velázquez. I remember the look of that individual, it makes you wonder, "What was this Pope like, caught then and there by the painter, with a look of pride, so overbearing, haughty and penetrating..." Perhaps I regard it in such a special manner because it is unreachable, because we do not have it here.