A group of students of the School of Philosophy and Letters participates in the summer course "The Prado of the XXI century", organized by the Prado Museum.
They have been awarded scholarships by the Fundación Amigos del Museo del Prado, an entity with which the University has signed a agreement
FotoCedida/Ourstudents and Professor Azanza with Andrés Úbeda, director attachment of Conservation and research of the Prado Museum.
10 | 07 | 2024
The Prado National Museum has become classroom, for a few days, for a group of 5 students of the School of Philosophy and Letters. Javier Munilla, 4th year of History; Zsofi Friedrich, 3rd year of History + Diploma in Archaeology; José Manuel Fábregas, 5th year of History and IR; Luis Enrique Alas, 4th year of Literature and Creative Writing; and Beixi Ausín, from 4th year History, participated in the summer course "The Prado in the 21st Century", organized by the national art gallery, thanks to a scholarship granted by the Friends of the Prado Museum Foundation, an entity with which the University has signed a agreement. They were accompanied by Professor Javier Azanza, Full Professor of Art History and head of the subject "Museography and Museology" together with Professor Mercedes Jover.
The opening was presided over by Miguel Falomir, director of the Museo del Prado, who underlined how, over the last few years, this institution has adapted to the quality and richness of its collections, putting it on a par with the most important museums in the world. To make this concrete, various professionals from the national art gallery explained to the audience the challenges they have had to face during this time, the way in which the collections have been enriched, the new ways of presenting them that have been developed, the advances that have been made in research and conservation, or the change in the way of communicating and relating with the public. They also shared with the attendees some of the objectives they have set for the future.
The course, which took place in the Auditorium of the Museo del Prado, also included the interventions of its last two directors: Fernando Checa (1996-2001) and Miguel Zugaza (2002-2017). Other speakers included Carmen Acedo, Chief State Attorney, Ministry of Culture, who spoke about the Prado Museum's legal framework ; Andrés Úbeda, Director attachment Conservation and research of the Prado Museum, who explained the meaning of buying works of art; Marina Chinchilla, Deputy Director of Administration, Prado Museum, who addressed issues related to management and the organization of the Museum; Ana González Mozo, Senior Museum Technician, Technical Documentation Office, Museo del Prado, who shared the new diagnostic imaging systems developed for the study of paintings; or Carlos Chaguaceda, Head of Communications, Museo del Prado.
visit At framework of the program, attendees also enjoyed a closed-door guided tour of Caravaggio's work, focusing especially on the Ecce Homo, a piece of special relevance that has been on display at the Museum since May 28. They also had the opportunity to visit the temporary exhibition Art and social transformations in Spain (1885-1910) and the permanent collection of the exhibition halls.
As Javier Munilla, student of History, points out, "visiting El Prado is always special, but when you add to this the possibility of attend to attend conferences given by some of the best museum professionals in the world, visit becomes even more special". He says that all the sessions "have given us a very interesting vision of the museum, from different perspectives". He adds that one of the activities he most enjoyed was the visit to the different collections, guided by Professor Azanza: "Seeing and commenting with him on the great works of the Renaissance and Baroque studied in different subjects during the Degree has been, without a doubt, unforgettable. It has result been a very rewarding journey".
Her colleague Zsophia is of the same opinion, stating that this has been "an unforgettable experience, and undoubtedly constructive". Our student is doing an internship at the Museum of Castejón, so, she explains, "seeing and comparing the two entities was very interesting. Everything we have learned in these days financial aid me to better perform my work and understand it better". For her part, Beixi Ausín, from the 4th year of History and Diploma in Archaeology, affirms that "these conference have been an opportunity to approach a fascinating world and also to reflect on the important work of sponsorship, promotion and conservation carried out by the professionals of the Prado Museum; a great team that works tirelessly to maintain the national and international recognition of this institution".
Professor Javier Azanza, Full Professor of Art History, concludes that this experience will allow students, from now on, "to look at the Prado with new eyes and discover many details that until now had gone unnoticed, which will make our visit a much more enriching experience".
