She served on the "Junta de Defensa y Protección del Tesoro Artístico Nacional" (Board of Defense and Protection of National Artistic Patrimony) which saved the art of the Museo del Prado, Palacio Real, Palacio Liria and the El Escorial from the aerial bombardment during the war. At first the art was stored in the Prado, but after the Prado was directly hit by nine bombs in late November, María, along with her husband Rafael led the 3 December evacuation of the Prado with a convoy of camouflaged trucks to a safe location in Valencia. Rafael later wrote "Noche de guerra en el Museo del Prado" (Night of War in the Prado Museum), a play in which characters in paintings by Goya come to life to defend the besieged city of Madrid. The play premiered at the "Piccolo Theatre" in Rome in 1973 and at the Teatro María Guerrero, Madrid in 1977. She wrote "They sacrificed us. We were the Spain with torn clothes and heads held high".