Voces del Prado

The Strenght of The Prado

Philippe de Montebello, Honorary Trustee, 1978-What's on

The Prado has not changed that much, except for the expansion. What has changed are the programmes, the way in which the Museum communicates with its visitors, either on site or through the Internet and via electronic means and all that. But the Prado itself, the grand gallery, the rooms, have not changed and must not change. It’s a Museum, a real collection. The rooms may be organised in a different manner from time to time. Before the expansion, large exhibitions were held in the central hall, in the grand gallery. They were very interesting, featuring dialogues with the secondary halls, where you could see the connections between the works. But, in general, the Prado has not changed that much, and this is one of its strengths. Because when the works are as good as this, why change? Just to remain “up to date”? That’s no good. And the Prado doesn’t do that. The Prado is a museum that has a strong awareness of its own history, of its character. It knows it’s a royal collection, that it’s not an encyclopaedic museum, that many artists aren’t represented there. This is the Museum’s character. There are many Spanish works of art … It’s a national museum.