Voces del Prado

The ideal place for sculptures

José María Luzón Nogué, Museum Director, 1994-1996

If I'm honest with you, I must say that the sculptures should be at La Granja, the place where the original pedestals of the 18th century sculptures are kept. That's where they were, according to the description given by Pons, where they had plenty of room and air for such beauty. Here they are crowded into a hall of a museum. That's the way I see it. It might not be the right thing but I've seen it that way all my life. They were much better off on their original pedestals than they are here. The pedestal for the Group of San Ildefonso has the original relief in the front. It's a sculpture that was in the Ludovisi collection and there the pedestal had that relief. Here the Group of San Ildefonso is in a hall, perched up on a pedestal that is absolutely bland. We can circle around it and look at it from different angles but I still think a great deal was lost in terms of beauty. The collection was brought by Isabella of Farnesio to Spain and we've got the documents, that's why everything should be kept together at the place for which it was destined. I don't know what to say. Maybe today, when we're celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Prado Museum, some people won't want to hear something like this, but it's what I think about it and it's not as if I'm saying something offensive.