Voces del Prado

Unusual Cases Regarding the Prado Disperso I: La batalla de San Marcial by Julio Aparicio

Mercedes Orihuela Maeso, Conservator of the Service of Deposits, 1975-What's on

When the deposits inquiry was carried out that I mentioned before, the one that the Board of Trustees entrusted to Alfonso Pérez Sánchez, Alfonso had to go to Santiago de Compostela to recover a number of works and he unearthed a series of things at the Cathedral, such as the fact that some canvases, such as La batalla de San Marcial by Julio Aparicio, were being used to cover up windows. When he wanted to bring the work back, the Cathedral Chapter went on the defensive and he had to call the Civil Guard. When La batalla San Marcial reached the Museum, the poor painting was just a pile of ashes. Because, as you can imagine, the pigeons, the seagulls and many other things had destroyed it. I can tell you, all sorts of things have happened to me and my predecessors, and the same will occur to those who come after me if things continue the same way.