The MNAC requests a report from the Ministry of Culture on the risk of moving the Sijena murals.

BarcelonaThe Ministry of Culture must explicitly position itself on the risks of moving the murals from the Sijena chapter house. A document from the MNAC, filed this Monday in the Huesca court, states that on Friday, the museum's president, Joan Oliveras, requested a letter from Minister Ernest Urtasun for a report from the Spanish Institute of Cultural Heritage (IPCE) on the suitability of moving the paintings. Although ministry technicians have been part of the working group on the murals, this is the first time the museum has made this request to the IPCE, considered the highest authority on art preservation in the country.

The museum is requesting an "expert opinion" that includes "a conservation project regarding the relocation of the paintings displayed in Room 16 of the museum, prepared to ensure the preservation of cultural heritage, in accordance with the risk management methodology and in accordance with the guidelines of the 2015 National Conservation Plan." "The conservation and preservation of the mural paintings of the Sijena Monastery, and the need to ensure that activities aimed at complying with the conviction do not undermine these principles, are not the exclusive objectives of the autonomous public authorities, but also constitute a constitutional duty incumbent on the State, as the holder of a concurrent jurisdiction with which it belongs."

Paintings in a very precarious state

The Ministry of Culture is a member of the MNAC's board of trustees, along with the Generalitat (Catalan government) and Barcelona City Council. The three administrations aligned themselves with the museum's position of declaring its technical inability to carry out the transfer. The paintings are in a very precarious state: they lost their mural character after Josep Gudiol, in an attempt to save them from the fire, removed them and mounted them on canvas and wood supports. If the paintings are no longer in a controlled environment like the museum's, everything indicates that the bacteria present in the organic binders used will react and cause fungus and other damage to the paintings. Furthermore, the wooden stretchers on which they are mounted are larger than the arches of the chapter house.

In addition to the letter to Urtasun, the MNAC also requests that the judge in Huesca request the report from the ministry. If the application is successful, the IPCE report will join other notable ones, such as those by expert Simona Sajeva and the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM), considered the leading international authority in its field.