Voces del Prado

Knowledge Millimetre by Millimetre

Rocío Dávila Álvarez, Restorer, 1974-2015

In restoration you learn a great deal, because it allows you to see the picture millimetre by millimetre. You’re looking at the way the artist works, how his brushstrokes fall, how he draws, how he builds, where his weaknesses are. You really get inside the work. You can learn a great deal from the artist. Me, for example, you can talk to me about the history of art and give me dates, and I will learn it, but then I forget it all. However, the way a painter has executed a painting, how he uses the brush or how he combines the preparation, the colour and the impasto is something that stays with me and something I truly enjoy. I’ve learned an enormous amount and I’ve had a marvellous time. In fact, when I get into a work or a restoration, I just forget about the rest of the world and I just focus on what I’m doing.