Voces del Prado

Jesús Aroca. Forever in the Museum

María Teresa González Escolar, General Services Assistant, 1990-2013

There’s another odd thing that Jesús told me. When he went to take over one morning as David, the head of the night team, was going off duty, David said to him: “Can you believe that last night on our rounds we heard you here? We heard your footsteps, you were here in the Museum, and not just me, the colleague who was with me on the round.” So Jesús was dreaming and they heard him in the Museum. As he dreams about the Museum. Very odd.
The Museum’s very important to me, it has been and always will be, but for Jesús there’s nothing to equal it. He wants his ashes to rest in the Museum no matter what, “in a dark corner” he says. I always reply, “Well, don’t worry as if you don’t manage that, if I outlive you I’ll install you there, and furthermore in a place where they can’t sweep so you’ll be there forever.” It’s because the Museum is his passion. “I get really excited about the Prado”, he says, and every time we go past on the bus he says: “Look, the Prado!”