Press support: ABC - Blanco y Negro

Exhibition settlement: Métode, with a team led by Jorge Hernandez.

Reception: Randstad España

Communication: GAC (Galería de Asesores de Comunicación) (Director: Antonio Gonzalez Conejero assisted by Timanfaya Custodio)

ven the press pointed out how rare an event it was - in fact, as La Vanguardia wrote, it was the first time that Her Majesty Queen Sophia had patronised an exhibition which was a private initiative.

his shows something of the stir caused by the exhibition in Madrid.

any people consider the Capilla del Obispo the "Madrid's great artistic jewel". Built in 1550 in pure late gothic style, the Chapel stands next to the San Andrès church, and opens, through a cloister, on to the beautiful Place of the Paja, which is unpaved and shaded by trees, right in the centre of Madrid, just five minutes away from both the Plaza Mayor and the Oriente plaza.

he Catholic Kings, Isabelle et Ferdinand, used it frequently for their religious services.

t contains an admirable reredos, polychrome on wood, made by Francisco Giralte en 1550 - one of the finest in Spain.

n the central panel, the scenes of the Passion of Christ are presented vertically. The first, at eye level, is a remarkable Pieta.

he exhibition layout was totally recomposed in function of this unique work, and its grandeur, as it rose from the heart of Robert Hupka's photographs, brought to it an astonishing mixture of strength and gentleness.

his Bishop's Chapel had been closed to the public for more than thirty years, and was thus totally unknown to many of the people of Madrid. The Comunidad of the city, under the presidency of D. Alberto Ruiz Gallardón, has made its restauration a priority project. It is a long term project, having begun two years ago, and continuing for at least another two more years.

. Gustavo Villapalos Salas, Consejero de Educación y Cultura, having fallen in love with Robert Hupka's photographs, personally took the initiative of interrupting the work just for the two months of the exhibition, in order to open the chapel to the public, who could at the same time be shown the whole of the renovation work.

he project was under the oversight of D. Juan-Carlos Doadrio, Vice-Consejero de Educación y Cultura.

longside them, - Antonio Verdejo, then Private Secretary to the Civil Service Minister, played the role of the "genie of the lamp", initiating or giving advice on all the important measures to be taken.

s it necessary to add that all who helped to mount the exhibition, in whatever way, were partners in the true meaning of the word, and made the event their own: Marta Castagner and Carlos Moyano, directors of the CAM (Caja de Ahorros Mediterraneo), who helped extend the influence of the exhibition; Eduardo López, of Randstad España, who chose and led the reception team: Nuria Herranz, Suzana Pérez, Ainhoa Caro and Elena Uceda; Antonio Gonzalez and Timanfaya Custodio who were not only responsible for communications, but were also local correspondants for Myriam Courant and for Arstella; and not forgetting María Rosa de la Cierva, General Secretary of the archbishop's palace in Madrid; María-Angeles González and María-Jesús Imaz, of the Comunidad, Mercedes Ros, Cultural Representative for the European Commission in Madrid...

special mention must go to Don Lorenzo Rogríguez Muñoz, parish priest of San Andrès: much more than just our "host", he was to become the true "spiritual father" of the exhibition, surrounding it constantly with his active good-will.

nd last but not least, the exhibitions "babysitters": Cristobal and his pals. Cristobal was one of the security guards responsible for the exhibition, particularly at night. He wrote the following little entry in the visitor's book, which touched our hearts...

		" My feelings "
	I am very happy
	For I can stay her
   At night to watch
   I feel a little "something", without fear, moved, and protected.
   The photographs are so lifelike
   That I do not feel alone.
	When I turn off the lights, 
	They seem to call to me.
	I hear their sentiments, and the sadness
	They carry inside themselves.
	It seems to me that they are happy.
	Spain, 12-04-2000		Krystof Trojonovski (from Poland)
	My greetings to Robert Hupka, who I know personally, and to his friends 
   Myriam and Daniel Courant.
   

e felt like ending this little report on the exhibition in Madrid with Cristobal's testimony. First, because Cristobal relived, and tells in his own words the experience which was that of Robert Hupka in New York, alone, in silence, with the Pieta, night after night, and feeling the Presence.

nd also because he echoes palpably the unbroken chain, the implication of all who were involved, which made the Madrid experience a heartfelt success.