You can finally photograph Picasso's Guernica: Reina Sofía lifts ban

Good news for visitors to the Reina Sofía Museum in Madrid: at last, in fact, the public has been allowed to photograph Guernica, Pablo Picasso’s 1937 masterpiece. In fact, the institution removed, on September 1, a ban on photographing the work that had persisted since 1981, when the painting was moved from MoMA in New York to its current home. Photographs, since then, were not allowed, even without flash. And to think that last year an Italian tourist, in order to photograph a museum work, had damaged it: yet, the incident was irrelevant to the decision of the museum, intent on improving the visitor experience.

“Our intention,” said director Manuel Segade, in fact, "was simply that pictures could be taken normally, not to give an announcement to the press or anything, because if pictures are taken all over the museum, in all the great museums of the world, and, above all, if we are constantly living filmed by cameras, when we go to a concert, when we go to any cultural event... well, we think it doesn’t make sense that Guernica doesn’t enjoy the iconic character it deserves."

The ban applied to the entire hall. Photos are now possible but under certain conditions, namely those in place in many museums: no flash, no tripods, selfie sticks, assorted devices. “I would like us to get to 100 percent photo accessibility,” the director added, “especially for that young audience that lives filtered through a screen. I think it’s also important to pay attention to how they approach reality.”

You can finally photograph Picasso's Guernica: Reina Sofía lifts ban

Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.