Voces del Prado

The First Graduates of the Restoration School

María Teresa Dávila Álvarez, Restorer, 1982-2013

We were the first graduates: my sister Rocío [Dávila], Pedro Querejazu, who came from Bolivia to Spain to study restoration, and me. Before that, the very first graduates had been the former restorers who worked on the staff at the Restoration Institute. They were given the option of an official qualification at an official school, which was the first that had ever been set up in Spain. Because before that there were no studies. Restorers came from the School of Arts and Trades or from the Fine Arts School. All of this was set up by Gratiniano Nieto, who was the Director General of Fine Arts, together with a group of individuals such as José María Cabrera, who worked in the field of applied chemistry, Paul Philippot, the Head of the Restoration Institute in Brussels, and various members of Restauro in Rome.
Matías Díaz Padrón lectured us on the history of art. José María Cabrera gave us classes in applied chemistry. And María del Socorro Mantilla also taught us applied chemistry, but relating to textiles. In the mornings we had practical sessions with former restorers. My first restoration practice lecturer was María Antonia Martínez Chumilla. She was an individual who taught us a great deal, an elderly woman who also retired. They imbued us with a certain sensibility, a sense of respect for the work of art, the way we had to approach our work. They taught us an enormous amount. In fact, we have the collection that we have today thanks to them.
The Restoration Workshop at the Museo del Prado has been a workshop of great tradition, featuring some truly excellent restorers, individuals who had a great sensibility and were highly qualified. This has been the case at every level. But all of that forms part of the age, and everything moves on. And that had to move on and develop as well.