Voces del Prado

The 19th century: galleries that everyone understands

Ana Gutiérrez Márquez, Senior Technician of Museums (Conservation of 19th Century Painting), 1975-2018

I know there are very important, famous and very prestigious galleries but the ones for me are the 19th-century galleries. Also, I have to say, I realise I’m not the only one. When I go into the Prado I see the 19th-centry galleries absolutely full of people whereas I see galleries of other departments, centuries and periods that aren’t so full. This is why I think that it was a good decision to include the 19th-century galleries within the overall display at the Museo del Prado as they’re galleries that everyone understands. There’s a lot of religious painting in the Museum, which you need prior knowledge to understand. But many of the 19th-century works are open windows, they’re situations that people immediately understand. I don’t know if that’s the reason or if it’s because the collection is so nice; they’re relatively few rooms and it’s been possible to concentrate the finest works.
If I had to single out a 19th-century work I would of course choose The Mancorbo Pass in Picos de Europa. It was the first work I saw when I arrived at the Museum to do work experience in 1973. It was hanging in the central room in the Casón, alongside all the large-format paintings. The Mancorbo Pass is not a large-format painting, it’s a medium-size one but it was installed on an easel which drew attention to it. Also, over the course of my life I’ve had the opportunity to catalogue that painter’s entire output and do a publication on it. So it’s a work that I’m particularly fond of, not just for its artistic value, which of course it has, but also for the sentimental value it has for me.