Miguel Falomir on the attack on the ‘Majas’: “It is an attack on all Spaniards”

On the 5th, two eco-activists stuck to the frames of Goya’s ‘Majas’ in the Prado Museum and painted between the two canvases. They were detained for 48 hours (it was a weekend) and released with charges, along with two other people who collaborated with them. The Court of Instruction number 29 of Madrid has not yet announced the date of the judicial process. The graffiti has been cleaned up, the pictures have been re-hung and the room has been reopened, but the frames have not yet been restored. This is confirmed by Gemma García Torres, responsible for the collection of frames in the Prado. What is the damage report? «I cannot say much, because there is the judicial process. We have made an internal report. The frames have damage, of course. When they say that the work of art is not attacked, that it is not damaged… it is being damaged, because the frame is part of it. Everything we have inside the museum is BIC. And the frames are part of the artistic collection. They are studied like any artistic work. Regarding whether the damage is serious, she comments: «For me it is serious that a work of art is attacked. They are obviously damage, but not extreme. García Torres emphasizes that all the frames that are being attacked are from the period: Louis XIII, Italian… Those of the ‘Majas’ are from around 1907-1910, “of good quality”. She explains that the glue, when removed, “remains on the surface. It is a cyanoacrylate glue. A fat emulsion was applied to loosen the hand, but something always remains ». Why haven’t they been restored yet? «Well, for the moment, Management has decided to keep it that way«. We return the question to Miguel Falomir, director of the Prado. «For now, we are not going to bury the body of the crime. Until the process starts, it’s good to have it that way. And we will have to see. Maybe it’s not bad to leave a vestige, is it? Do you plan to leave them like this? “Why not?” “There has been no abandonment” And why has the Prado not been presented as a private prosecution in the case? “Because the Prosecutor’s Office already does it. First it has to be the judge who calls you. We will present everything we have to present» [incluidos todos los gastos de la limpieza de la pared, las horas extra de los trabajadores del Prado y lo que cueste la restauración de los marcos cuando se haga]. The museum’s communication director, Carlos Chaguaceda, intervenes to clarify that “when the events take place in a public building, ‘red-handed’, the police act and the Prosecutor’s Office takes it to court, the museum does not have to do anything. There has been no abandonment.” Two Velázquez del Prado who have recovered the original composition: on the left, ‘Mercurio y Argos’; on the right, ‘Las hilanderas’ Museo del Prado Falomir takes up the floor again: «Of course we are going to introduce ourselves». But, as witnesses or as prosecution? «We do not know if it is up to us or it is the State Attorney, the Ministry, which has to act. But of course the Ministry or the museum will appear as the affected party, without any doubt. We will appear as affected, but at the time the judge opens the process. Some political parties are calling for the penalties to be tougher and the fines to be increased in cases of damage to artistic heritage. Do you agree? Do you think the current law is enough? «I don’t know, I suppose it depends a lot on the degree of damage, the way in which it has been perpetrated… That corresponds to the judicial authorities. I think the current law is enough. It is a matter of public opinion. This is not the procedure to defend causes that may be more or less legitimate. It does not have to be the artistic heritage, which belongs to all Spaniards, the one that pays ». “Museums are being criminalized. The attitude of these aggressors is quite cowardly» Miguel Falomir Director of the Prado How is the damage to the ‘Majas’ frames assessed in that museum report? “The damage that has been done is not particularly serious, but it is obviously very serious from other points of view. Not everything can be measured in strictly material terms. To begin with, it has been an attack on a work of art, because the frame is an integral part of the work of art. It consists of a painting and a frame. It is an attack on all Spaniards, because it is everyone’s heritage. Museums are being criminalized simply by pointing to art as the culprit. It is a very large damage, probably much more serious than what these frames have suffered on time. Museums are cultural institutions. It is very easy to attack them and the attitude of these attackers is quite cowardly. There is damage, I don’t know if it is judicially measurable or not, but it does seem to me that it should be reprehensible from the point of view of public opinion. And what I see leaves a lot to be desired. Spain is the only country where attackers have been interviewed in the media. These people act solely and exclusively motivated by the publicity that their actions obtain. For Andrés Úbeda, deputy director of the museum, «the deterioration of a frame implies the deterioration of the work of art. This is how we understand it in the Prado, where we dedicate a lot of effort, talent and money to the conservation of the frames, an essential part of the work of art ». With the additions of the 18th century The original painting On the left, ‘Mercury and Argos’, by Velázquez, with the bands added in the 18th century (about 25 centimeters at the top and 10 centimeters at the bottom) and still with the old frame. On the right, the added bands are hidden thanks to the new frame and we only see the original painting by the Sevillian master. Museo del Prado The Prado houses a wide and heterogeneous collection of frames, from the 13th to the 20th centuries. They are valuable objects in themselves, although they are usually seen as secondary and merely decorative. Miguel Falomir explains that “there is an official frame, the most recurrent in the museum, misnamed ‘Mengs frame’, from the time of Carlos III. The last major renovation of frames in the Royal Collection was with this monarch. In the museum there are all kinds, good and bad. There are few old ones ». Gemma García defends that «the frame is not just part of a work of art or a decorative element, it is often a work of art. It is inseparable from the canvas or the board. A window to peek into.” The Prado has chosen to study its collection of frames in depth. In 2019, the ‘Framing the Prado’ project was launched, with the support of the American Friends of the Prado (the friends of the Prado in the United States) and the sponsorship of the American Express Foundation. Thanks to this project, the frames of ‘Las hilanderas’, by Velázquez, have already been changed; from ‘Hipómenes y Atalanta’ by Guido Reni… In the case of the Velázquez masterpiece, a masking system was devised that would not damage the work. It consists of a paneled structure that will hide the later additions and on it a false frame. Now it is the turn of ‘Mercury and Argos’, one of the last works that Velázquez painted. Flanked by ‘Las hilanderas’ and ‘Marte’ in room 15 A of the Prado, it sports a newly manufactured frame, similar to the one in ‘The Knight with his Hand on his Chest’, by El Greco. It reproduces a Spanish frame from the end of the 16th century and the middle of the 17th century. Made of pine wood, in black and gold water, sober and elegant, it has been made by the craftsman José Manuel García and has cost 15,000 euros. It hides the additions from the 18th century, leaving only what was painted by the Sevillian master on view. This painting decorated the Hall of Mirrors of the Alcázar in Madrid, together with three other mythological paintings by Velázquez, destroyed in the fire of 1734: ‘Apollo skinning a satyr’, which was of the same dimensions and acted, like ‘Mercury and Argos’ as a window; ‘Adonis and Venus’ and ‘Psyche and Cupid’, somewhat minor. Only ‘Mercury and Argos’ were saved from the flames. MORE INFORMATION news Yes ‘Hipómenes y Atalanta’, a hymn to beauty in all its splendor news Yes From museums with my tube of paint news No Attempt in the Prado against Goya’s ‘Las Majas’, which do not have protective glass In the In the 18th century, a band of about 25 centimeters was added at the top and another of about 10 centimeters at the bottom, already in the Royal Palace. On a screen in the room, next to the painting, the added bands are perfectly appreciated. There are many paintings in the Prado whose original size was enlarged over time. Among the next ones that will be seen again in the ‘original version’ there is no other Velázquez at the moment. Yes, ‘El Cid’, by Rosa Bonheur, will change the frame.