The Catalan National Assembly protested the return of the mural to Aragon.
A small protest broke out outside the National Museum of Art in Catalonia (MNAC) on Monday morning when Aragon technicians arrived to inspect a controversial set of 13th-century murals that were ordered by the Spanish Supreme Court to send it back to the Monastery of Sienna.
according to El Paísless than 50 protesters (organized by the Catalan National Assembly, joined by former Catalan President Laura Borràs and ANC President Lluís Llach, among others, to oppose the court’s ruling. The group chanted slogans like “not justice, not plunder” and failed to intercept the Aragon team, which entered the museum cautiously through the side entrance.
The visit marks an important step in the enforcement of the controversial ruling, which had been evacuated for more than a decade from the Sijena Norastery in 1936 after a fire broke out during the Spanish Civil War. Although the works have been in MNAC since then, the court ruled that the original religious order never legally transferred ownership.
The Aragon team led by the restorator Natalia Martínez De Pisón began a collaboration with the so-called blasphemy mural, which could be the fragile part of the first move. Their examination will last until Wednesday and include photogrammetry that assesses transport status and viability.
However, museum officials remained firmly relocated more sophisticated murals, especially those saved from chapter houses, that could cause irreversible damage. The MNAC has filed documents warning the court of risks and is expected to formally challenge the enforcement order based on protection reasons.
MNAC proposes a phased approach, starting with solid works removed in the 1960s. However, the fate of the core mural has been installed, rebuilt and protected by climate – uncertain, trapped in an uncertain range between judicial tasks and the scope of preservation.
