Víctor Cageao (Baamonde, Lugo, 55 years old) is since January 1 the new director of the Royal national Heritage collections and, therefore, of the Gallery of the Royal Collections, the great museum that opened in Madrid on June 29, 2023 to show the pieces of art and culture collected by the Spanish crown for more than five hundred years. Training architect, Cageao gives its first interview with a national media at the head of a space that aspires to place “in the international level,” he says. During the talk, in his office of the Royal Palace, he does not hide his content for his new mission. Before, from the General Subdirectorate of State Museums of the Ministry of Culture, he was responsible for the renewal of the National Archaeological Museum or the National Museum of Sculpture of Valladolid, among others.
Ask. What has been found upon arrival at the Gallery of the Royal Collections?
Answer. Well, it was my house because I had a stage as director of real estate and natural environment before [entre 2018 y 2022]. Then I left to the Prado Museum, but to know national heritage, given the complexity it has, with such an extensive amount of cultural goods [unos 170.000]It is a complicated management. It is a very sanitized house from the point of view of the budget and personnel.
P. But it will come with new ideas.
R. It is impossible not to come with ideas. when I decided to introduce myself to the position, they demand planning, but when you arrive you have to listen to the technicians.
P. And what have they told him?
R. It is a young museum, it is taking off, to which you have to enhance and provide content. As for the rest of the real sites, thanks to European funds for the pandemic, we will address projects, update facilities, make restorations and museographs …
P. What are the most immediate projects?
R. The reopening of the Royal Armería, in the Royal Palace, is the first, earlier this summer. It is a unique collection in the world, especially known for the pieces that belonged to Carlos V and Felipe II. The next is the house of the farmer [palacete de Carlos IV en Aranjuez]which will be reopened in autumn. It is a building rich in decorative arts, where you had to undertake emergency works. Now we are with the restoration of pieces and decorative elements.
P. In his presentation to the media, in mid -March, he said that the gallery should be the first museum to visit a tourist who arrived in Madrid. Because?
R. Because the real collections are the origin of the rest of the great Spanish museums and because through their exhibition it is understood, better than anywhere else, the formation of Spanish taste and collecting, mainly that of the monarchy, which by constituting the elite, created style.
P. Is theirs going to be a continuous stage of that of the previous director, Leticia Ruiz, who launched the gallery?
R. On the one hand, continuous because I have worked with her hand in hand. He did a great and very difficult job. But, at the same time, in some areas, I have my personality and tastes and we are going to make changes, although not very drastic, in the permanent exposure.
P. Does that mean that the number of pieces will be increased, just over the 650 that are currently shown?
R. I don’t think it is necessary to increase significantly. Nor should the visitor atosigate. The pieces now look good. The idea is that some can rotate to offer news.
P. Are there big pieces saved in the stores?
R. Of course. National Heritage is a continuous surprise. Visits the palaces and see wonders. For example, I recently saw in the warehouses of the Royal Palace a micromosaic that gave Isabel II that it looks like a painting. That would be phenomenal in the gallery.
P. He has also announced that there will be a greater number of temporary exhibitions.
R. The important thing about a museum is that it offers reliable programming, that is, regular and varied. We want great exhibitions, which require years of preparation, and smaller ones, projects that offer what other institutions cannot. And we also want to make known what is done. National Heritage has organized great exhibitions and may not communicate it. You have to make that effort.
P. One of the storms will be on tapestries.
R. Yes, in the last days of June. It will present two series of tapestries of the 16th century that refer to the seven capital sins: pride, gluttony, lust … They are cloths of great dimensions, colorful pieces that provide reflection, because you have to explain why that collection is so important, how the tapestries were made, what they meant for the monarchs, why they cost so much money …
P. Samples on characters from the monarchy will also be organized. Why has Queen Victoria Eugenia de Battemberg, the English who was a wife of Alfonso XIII?
R. He is the first queen who had an official role and developed a humanitarian work that we now see normal. It is an unknown figure on which there are manid and superficial ideas. You will be able to understand how that queen felt that the day she married lived an attack [murieron 23 personas]the relationship with her husband, exile … We want it to be an emotional and fun exhibition, that you can approach her figure in an affordable way. There will be his writings, postcards, photographs, his portraits, personal objects …
P. Precisely, the space dedicated to the twentieth century in the gallery is very small.
R. The real collections begin with the Trastámara, with Isabel la Católica, perhaps the first big collector, and end with Isabel II. Alfonso XII and the kings that followed are not collectors in the style of the previous ones. From Alfonso XIII we count, for example, its contributions to photography. In the last part of the visit there is an audiovisual that shows what happened to the real collections, but we must also emphasize national heritage currently. For example, what we buy or what is restored. We have 13 workshops.
P. National Heritage continues to buy pieces?
R. Yes, but they are specific purchases. This year we are acquiring a lot, but always with a goal, such as completing holes from some collection. We just bought a portrait of the Infanta Catalina Micaela [segunda hija de Felipe II y de su tercera esposa, Isabel de Valois]which is wonderful, and in New York, a portrait of Fernando VII, by Vicente López. When they arrive they will expose themselves.
P. To fill in that space dedicated to the twentieth century, could oil move Juan Carlos I’s familyby Antonio López, who is in the Royal Palace?
R. The picture is fine where it is. So, in principle, no.
P. One of the problems of the gallery is that by its location it is not easy to find for tourists, despite being with the Royal Palace. What will be done with the signage of the area so that this does not happen?
R. It is evidence. The building is wonderful, but was built down. You need a signaling reinforcement. We are working with the Madrid City Council. A few days ago urban signals have been placed that include the gallery.
P. In 2024 they visited this museum 648,209 people, of which more than 40% came from outside Spain. He said he would like to attract more public from China and Japan.
R. I am struck that the representation of visitors from the Eastern Eastern is low, despite the interest they have in Spain. Of foreigners, the most important percentage corresponds to the United States, with 17%. Then France, the United Kingdom, Germany are well represented … and there is an important presence of Mexico and Argentina. The gallery needs to be placed internationally, so we are collaborating with Spanish embassies abroad.
