Voces del Prado

Rafael Alberti and his cotton

Alicia Quintana Martínez, Head of the Education Service, 1983-2007

There was a big outrage in Spain. Weren't there people to take care of restoring paintings at the Prado? Why did we have to bring in someone from abroad? Eventually, John Brealey would end up in a wheelchair. I don't know if he's still alive. The funny thing is that the cleaning of Las Meninas is a whole different story, but I love it nonetheless. It was paid for by an American lady, a Sephardic Jew who had got a Spanish passport in the days of the Third Reich, thanks to her being Sephardic, and it was her way of showing gratitude. She collaborated other times and offered to pay for it under two conditions: the Ministry of Culture was not to intervene and she would pay for the hotel bill of the man taking care of the cleaning. He stayed at the Ritz, and would cross the street to his workplace. Since there was so much discontent, they put him near the prior location, in a small room, and would call people to come see him working. He would leave behind the cotton he had used to clean the picture so that it could be seen that no paint had been removed, just dirt. One day that I went by, there was Rafael Alberti. He spoke of his Meninas, because he had helped packed them to ship them abroad, and when he returned from exile he said, "These aren't my Meninas," because he found them very dirty. Everyone at the Prado Museum has breathed in front of Las Meninas and there was no air-conditioning. I remember seeing Alberti picking up a piece of cotton and tucking it away in his pocket.
It was a difficult time, very tough for management. And when the painting was hung in its place, something that often happens after a restoration occurred--a protective layer was applied that is eventually removed. It's our most important painting, and the director and Manuela Mena, the ones who spoke perfect English, were busy all day explaining things, because it's our iconic picture!