Voces del Prado

Photographing the Restoration of the Dauphin’s Treasure

Carlos Manso Manso, General Operations Service Technician (Photographer), 1953-1999

Photographing the Dauphin’s Treasure was terrible. It was located in a room in the Museum that was quite low. It was laid out in a series of display cabinets fitted into the walls of a circular room. It was a little isolated on its own down there. Times change and someone decided that it was necessary to restore the works. This restoration process was very complicated. A number of specialists from outside the Museum were called in, highly knowledgeable professionals. Nearly all of the pieces were dismantled because they were in quite poor condition, and we photographed all of the restorations step by step. With a 35 mm camera on a column with a bracket, attempting to avoid any reflections or shadows. It was very difficult, but we produced hundreds of photos
One of the Assistant Directors at the Museum, Castellano, took a lively interest in the matter and ordered the display cabinets to be built. Now the whole thing looks beautiful!