Prado Museum's Wartime Evacuation of Masterpieces

During the Spanish Civil War, the Prado Museum executed the first systematic evacuation of a major museum's art collection. On July 18, 1936, the military uprising began the war. By August 30, the Prado closed; over 5,000 paintings were moved to the basement. On November 16, 1936, the museum was hit by incendiary bombs, but precautions limited damage. On November 5, 1936, the government ordered transfer to Valencia. 22 convoys with 71 trucks transported 1,868 crates of masterpieces by Velázquez, Goya, El Greco, Titian, Bosch, and Dürer. In March 1938, the collection moved to Figueres. In February 1939, the International Committee for the Rescue of Spanish Art Treasures evacuated artworks to the League of Nations in Geneva. Manuel Arpe y Retamino, the only Prado affiliate accompanying the collection for three years, repaired damaged works like Goya's The Charge of the Mamluks (torn into 18 fragments) and saved Velázquez's Las Meninas by refusing to roll it. The collection was exhibited at Geneva's Museum of Art and History in July–August 1939, attracting over 400,000 visitors. It returned to Spain on September 9, 1939, one week after WWII began.