Newly painted or newly restored? That is what you find yourself wondering when looking at the paintings with the new lighting that the Prado Museum is installing in its galleries. If it all depends on the light, then these new LED bulbs that replace the halogen lamps reveal new details of the works.
Goya’s Black Paintings are not as black any more; the fabric and textures of the clothes in Madrazo’s portraits appear to come to life and the sculptures go from yellow to an intense white, meaning that works such as the bust of Isabel II regain an effect of transparency and even a sense of movement.
These new visual experiences for visitors are thanks to the lighting system that is already in use in seven rooms at the gallery, which has placed the Prado Museum at the forefront as regards technology, having attained enhanced levels of efficiency and conservation.
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For a better understanding of the scope of the Lighting The Prado project, which is the name given to this initiative backed by Iberdrola, we should focus on the goals that will be achieved: 75% savings in the museum’s annual energy consumption, a reduction of 320 tonnes in its CO2 emissions into the atmosphere, a 20.4% reduction in the damage factor for the works, as the new LED spotlights do not emit infra-red or ultraviolet radiation and maintenance is reduced to zero, because the lifetime of the new spotlights is 50,000 hours compared to 1,000 in the case of the previous lights.
This new lighting warrants a visit to the Prado Museum to see the works as they were originally conceived by the artists. From the artistic point of view, the advantages of the new system are the improvements in chromatic perception and clarity and the increased effect of depth.
The Prado was the first major Spanish museum to replace all its halogen lights (which will no longer be manufactured after 2016 following a European Union Directive) with LEDs. This transformation is being carried out by the Madrid-based company Lledó and the budget allocated is approximately €800,000.
The project is expected to be complete by 2017, when 1,500 works will be displayed with new lighting and from a new angle. The high point of this transformation will be the lighting in room 12 at the Prado, which houses the painting “Las Meninas” by Velázquez..