Voces del Prado

The Museum of the Future: New Perspectives

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

As always, other countries are ahead of us, but it’s never too late to bring yourself up to date. In fact, it’s essential and enriching, because these new perspectives, even for those of us from a different generation and in our capacity as art historians, serve to spur us on and help us to realise that there are other ways of looking at and interpreting things. Those of us who come from the world of grand historical and artistic compilations are able to explain different periods in the history of art, including the corresponding artists and movements. But that’s not really what we need to do, because all that has already been explained. Of course, such explanations can be polished and perfected. However, there are other ways of looking at things, perspectives that enable us as historians to convey to society that a series of values and reference-points exist that enrich us as a society. And we can show that a museum is a pleasurable place to visit, one where we can discover things we’d never thought about before. I believe this path, the path that the Museo del Prado and other museums around the world have opened up, is the one that we should follow. We should always consider what the street thinks and look at where things are going.