Voces del Prado

Professor Luna’s tours of the Prado

Juan Luna Fernández, Head of the Department of Conservation of 18th Century Painting, 1969-2016

Ambassadors, prime ministers, presidents of governments, monarchs... The list is endless. Visitors who’ve asked a lot of questions? Well, the King of Spain, don Juan Carlos I, asked questions all the time. So did Queen Sofía. Among foreign visitors, the former president of France, Valéry Giscard d’Estaing. I was with him and his wife all morning and he asked about everything. Fortunately I’m also a senior professor of History and Geography as it was a volley of questions. I’ve also had to accompany President Sarkozy and his wife. She asked very relevant questions as she’s extremely cultured.
What actors ask is also interesting. Lauren Bacall, for example, was very interested in the Goya drawings. However, I couldn’t show her any as they’re not on display, and I explained that drawings can’t be exhibited for long periods. Richard Gere was very pleasant and amusing. He told me what he loved were Goya’s Black Paintings and that when he came to Madrid (without anyone knowing he was here) he would come to the Prado and look at Goya’s paintings. Claudia Cardinale was very nice. We spent an afternoon going round the Prado; it was more chatting than explaining.
Sometimes it’s very difficult, for example, when Woody Allen and his wife came we spent a morning at the Prado. But it was difficult because he never opened his mouth, he was totally silent and he only reacted (which I found strange) when we looked at the Romanesque chapels with the paintings from San Baudelio de Berlanga. He was really interested, asked questions and at that moment seemed to be enjoying it.
Among young Spanish actors I remember Álvaro Cervantes. When he was going to do the “Charles King Emperor” series that he starred in he visited so that I could show him the portraits of the Emperor and see the context and the education he would have received in his youth. We have a very good collection of Flemish primitives here that show the cities and their atmosphere. So, lots of stories. Over the course of a lifetime you accumulate endless stories.