Spain’s Supreme Court has ordered the heirs of former dictator Francisco Franco to return the two religious statues to the city of Santiago and have a year-long legal dispute over their ownership.
The two works depict the history of biblical characters Isaac and Abraham, dating back to the 12th century, were originally produced as decorative elements of the glorious porch, the entrance to the Santiago Cathedral, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Europe.
The decision noted that the sculpture was deleted sometime in the mid-20th century under the Franco’s administration and was acquired by New York City in 1948. Sometime in the early 1950s, municipal officials arranged the statue, which was relocated to the Meirás Palace, where the politicians lived in the summer.
The court said the city’s then mayor promoted the transfer under the ruling, but the action was not legally conducted. After Franco died in 1975, his descendants inherited the statues and then kept them privately for decades.
The court ruled that the statue remains the legal property of the city. The family disputed ownership of the city, claiming that the works were purchased by their relatives in 1954 through antique dealers. The family’s legal representative never recorded the details of the sale.
Before the dispute begins, Spanish newspapers El País The 2018 report said the statue was held by Pristina SL, a real estate company owned by Francis Franco’s grandson, who was owned by Francis Franco.
