Spain’s Museo del Prado Missing 885 Artworks

Goya’s “La maja vestida” and “La maja desnuda” in Spain’s Museo del Prado (photo by MamboZ/Flickr)

The Museo del Prado in Spain is missing 885 artworks, down from 926 in 2008, El País reported. A recent investigation carried out by the country’s Tribunal de Cuentas, or Court of Auditors, found that the losses were likely decades-old but nonetheless reflected inadequate infrastructure for tracking the collections. A spokesperson for the museum downplayed the situation, telling the paper that many works had been lost over the years to fires and even armed conflict, but without proof of destruction or loss the records for these works remain.

The audit was compelled by the regulatory law governing the Prado, which calls for “monitoring the integrity and security of the museum’s collections and funds.” As part of the audit, the government agency queried 82 Spanish institutions responsible for 1,789 Prado-owned works held in the country but outside of the museum itself (a total of 3,206 works are held internationally). Of this group, 65% of the works were satisfactorily confirmed by 53 institutions; discrepancies and other irregularities in the records provided by 25 museums were further observed.

Though the report places blame on “insufficient human resources” — a catchall culprit also fingered by a similar report in France — a 2013–2016 plan will see the review in situ of works deposited outside of the museum, including the analysis of the works’ conditions, conservation, and security. A software program for managing the collection is also in the works, El País noted.

All translations by the author; h/t Artnet