Voces del Prado

The Museum’s dynamic

Manuel Montero Eugenia, Head of the Art Handling Staff, 1986-What's on

The fact that there are a lot of temporary exhibitions affects our work. We install the in-house exhibitions and for the ones taking place elsewhere we prepare the works for sending. So we have to take down works in some galleries as they will be going on loan but at the same time we have to replace them with others from the Museum’s stores. For some time now we’ve drawn up a small plan, a small sketch of how the gallery is hung at any one moment. So this and the experience of knowing the curator gives you a better idea of what he or she might like, more or less at what height to hang it, if you have to spread out the paintings or concentrate them closer together…
Although you might envisage what work could substitute it that decision always lies with the curator. Very often the sketch and the experience of many years helps to ensure that working on a gallery is a bit quicker. You know that at ten in the morning when the Museum opens you have to have the room finished and have packed up the tools you’ve used and taken away the paintings.