Voces del Prado

The 175th Anniversary of the Museum: Madrazo in the Villanueva Building

José Luis Díez García, Head of the Department of Conservation of 19th Century Painting, 1988-2013

The year 1994 marked the celebration of the 175th Anniversary of the Museo del Prado, and we didn’t have any idea what we might do. Francisco Calvo Serraller was the Director at the time. We couldn’t think of anything and so I said, “look, I’ve got something: the Museum’s 175th Anniversary also marks the centenary of the death of the painter, Federico de Madrazo, who is the only person who has been Director of the Museo del Prado on two occasions. I think the Museum should stage a monographic exhibition on Federico de Madrazo”. And they said, “very well”.
In actual fact, the Director of the Museum back in 1973, Xavier de Salas, had staged a small exhibition, one that was also monographic, on a Spanish nineteenth century painter, Eduardo Rosales. This was the only precedent that existed. It was quite difficult to convince everybody to support the proposal, because the idea of staging a nineteenth century painting exhibition in the Villanueva Building was tantamount to desecrating the temple in many minds, both outside and inside the Museum.
I was the first one who wanted to observe how such a dialogue might work, how a nineteenth century painter such as Madrazo might fare when placed alongside the great masters. I wanted to know whether passing from the Madrazo Hall to the other halls would set up a significant contrast and whether the painter’s work would emerge as a natural addition, something characteristic of a painter who had trained at the Museo del Prado itself, amongst other places. Because the painter’s father [José de Madrazo] had been a Director of the Museum, and Madrazo the painter had had easy access to all the pictures he’d wanted to see. This was something that no other painter of his generation could enjoy. I believe that these small or significant details helped the nineteenth century collections to gain the prestige and esteem that they enjoy today.