With the Bicentennial in march, the director of the National Museum of the Prado, Miguel Falomir is to face it, a year and a half after assuming the post, the most important renewal of the organization chart of the museum in the past 18 years. To the retirement of Pilar Silva (former Head of the department of painting and gothic flemish and Spanish), Manuela Mena (at the end of January will be the responsible of Goya) and the squares of the own Falomir (as responsible of Italian painting) and Andrés Úbeda (which is the new deputy director and former Head of conservation of Italian painting and French), there is that to add coverage for a newly created position: the head of the School of the Prado. In total, five squares “in the game” and a decisive push with Goya in the background.
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Before you resolve the convening of the seats —pending to be published— you had to clear a small obstacle of the convention of the workers of the museum. The director has had talks with the union representatives during the last half a year to make a change that would allow the hiring of specialists in university. “In the chapter on recruitment, we needed to include four words: ‘and the university’. Last Thursday the agreement was reached between the parties”, point sources in the direction of this newspaper. “We are at a time of regeneration an absolute Prado”, they add.
The director confirms that first will contest one of the seats of Italian painting, gothic painting and the school. With the “makeup” of the convention will be a contest between officials, in which “there will be court, assessment and interview”. But there will be no review, “because they are civil servants and, as such, are resolved by contests with the staff of the General Administration of the State”, added the same sources.
In the call of the Meadow may also be submitted to holders and professors from the university. That is to say, the court will assess the merits of the curriculum and the leadership will decide who is the best candidate. It is a position that is considered trusted by the director.
The own Falomir came to head in march of 2017, as his predecessor, Miguel Zugaza, without applying the code of Good Practice —this says Cratosslot that the director should be chosen through a public competition, with examination and court—. He was also named as a position of trust as Head of conservation of Italian painting and French until 1700 when he arrived from the university. Apparently, among the favorite candidates of Falomir to take charge of his old post figure the professor of the University of Granada, David García Cueto. And as responsible of gothic painting, Joan Molina, a professor at the University of Girona.
Rubens, Velázquez, and Goya.
once you have solved the access of university professors, the director will have to face the next challenge, taking into account that the four legs of the collections of the museum are the venetian painting, Rubens, Velázquez, and Goya. The department specialized in Goya would disappear under this new organization the next year, since it was a special creation of Fernando Checa for Manuela Mena, an expert in painting and drawing Italian of the SEVENTEENTH century.
With the progress of the art historian, responsible for the delisting of the Colossus as a work of the aragonese painter, would recover the original structure of the museum, with a large area of Spanish painting, which would cover up to the NINETEENTH century inclusive. The director of the museum is putting the final touches to this movement, but all indications are that the greater weight of scientific of the museum would be borne by Javier Portús.
The organization of the collection has been divided since 2001 into eight areas and eight responsible: restoration (with Enrique Quintana at the front), the Head of conservation of sculpture and decorative arts (Leticia Azcue), the Head of conservation of Spanish painting until 1700 (Javier Portús), Head of conservation of flemish painting and schools of north to 1700 (Alexander Vergara), the Head of conservation of Italian painting and French until 1700 (vacant since Falomir director) the Head of conservation of painting of the EIGHTEENTH century, and Goya (Manuela Mena), the Head of conservation of painting of the NINETEENTH century (Javier Baron) and the head of conservation of drawings and prints (José Manuel Matilla).
After the changes it intends to introduce Falomir, the Prado will see reduced body scientific to seven divisions.
