Voces del Prado

José Ángel Valente: Engraved in My Memory

Pilar Silva Maroto, Head of the Department of Conservation of Flemish Painting and the Northern Schools up to 1700, 1997-2017

Something that I have engraved in my memory took place when we were restoring The Garden of Earthly Delights. We completed the restoration in the year 2000 and, before we staged the public exhibition, we received a large number of visits to view the work when the Museum was closed. One visit was made by the poet, José Ángel Valente, who was dying; he had hardly two weeks left to live. But he didn’t want to die without seeing The Garden of Earthly Delights. He came with his wife, and it was an absolutely incredible experience, because he could hardly stand but you could see how much he was enjoying the viewing. We were deeply moved. Later on, some three weeks later, his wife, Coral, sent me some copies of Valente’s latest books and a note saying how much they had enjoyed the visit and how grateful they were to have been able to see The Garden of Earthly Delights with me.