The theory of the Sijena expert who wanted to claim a Prado painting is failing.
Marisancho Menjón and Alberto Velasco claim that 'The Nativity' was outside the monastery before it was declared a national monument.
BarcelonaOne of the reproaches that are made in Aragon in relation to the Sijena case It only claims the works of art from Catalan museums. Now, the government of Aragon has stated that it wants to claim the painting from the main altarpiece of the monastery dedicated to The Nativity from the Prado Museum. The Vice President of Aragon, Mar Vaquero, announced this Wednesday that the government of Jorge Azcón will reclaim the painting if it is confirmed that it left the monastery illegally after 1936. This is according to researcher and expert from the Vilanova de Sijena City Council, Juan José Nieto, after reviewing the documentation provided by the MNAC, which showed the documentation provided by the MNAC, from the monastery and dating back to the beginning of the Civil War.
The monastery was declared a national monument in 1923, and the works of art that were there at that time are an inalienable part; therefore, they could not be sold. Vaquero stressed that if the illegality of the sale is confirmed, they will reclaimThe Nativity, just as they have done with the assets of the Lleida Museum and the MNAC: "We would proceed in the same way, by making a claim." In addition to the Prado Museum, parts of the main altarpiece from the Sijena Monastery are in other museums around the world, including the Huesca Museum, the Zaragoza Museum, the Santa Cruz Museum in Toledo, and the Meadows Museum in Dallas.
After learning the news, sources from the Prado Museum explain that they are awaiting the details of the official report on The Nativity to assess the situation. "The work was purchased in good faith; if it is now proven that history did not turn out as we believed, we will proceed accordingly," explained Carlos Chaguaceda, the museum's Director of Communications, who emphasizes that he learned of the report's existence through the press, that he does not have "official documentation to assess the situation," and that he prioritizes "transparency."
According to the Prado Museum's account, the table was legally sold by the nuns in 1923, before the monastery was declared a national monument. After a long journey, the painting went up for auction in 2003 in Madrid and the Ministry of Culture bought it for the Madrid museum. "The Prado believes that works should be in the hands of their rightful owners," says Chaguaceda, adding that "if anyone cares for and shows a proven respect for looted works, it is this museum," which has already returned works looted or lost after the Civil War to their rightful owners.
The Historians Marisancho Menjón and Alberto Velasco refute Juan José Nieto's claims.
After learning of the investigation, another historian, Marisancho Menjón, the former director general of heritage for the Aragonese government, assured X that Nieto "should be more serious" with the information he provides to the press because "the table couldn't have been in the Sijena chapter house in 1936" because then "it would have burned." "He's confusing the dates of the photos," Menjón asserts. Given this information, sources within the Aragonese government have expressed caution regarding the claim to the painting.
According to the data Menjón is working with, The Nativity He would have left the monastery before 1923, when it was declared a national monument, as stated in the book The paintings of the main altarpiece of Sijena. A Renaissance project for a women's monastery., published by the government of Aragon. This publication "expressly" states that the panel can be identified in a reproduction of the monastery's chapter house published in a 1919 article and that "shortly" later it was already on the international art market.
Alberto Velasco, also a historian and former curator of the Lleida Museum, has expressed himself along the same lines: in a thread also published in X, he provides documents that prove that in 1926 the work appeared in a London auction house. Specifically, a copy of the magazine Spanish Art, who published an article that same year on Spanish paintings on the international market which includes photographs of the table and details that the work was for sale in London at the AL Nicholson Gallery.