The Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (MNAC) has proposed beginning the dismantling, packing and transfer of the secular paintings from the Monastery of Santa María de Sijena on November 17. The museum sent the proposed timetable and work plan to the Government of Aragón, according to a statement issued Tuesday.
The MNAC said it revised its schedule after receiving notice that the Huesca Provincial Commission for Cultural Heritage had authorized the work. The operations had initially been planned for July. In early October, the Government of Aragón had said the works would return between October 19 and November 5.
The transfer will be carried out by SIT, a company contracted by the museum, under the supervision of technicians appointed by the Government of Aragón. They are to be informed of each operation sufficiently in advance. The plan includes stabilizing the paintings, making custom packaging and transporting them in a 30-cubic-metre truck, with temperature and humidity controls. The insurance for the operation is set at €1.7 million.
The MNAC has said the secular paintings do not have the same conservation issues or technical obstacles as the mural paintings in the monastery’s Chapter House. The museum has also noted that the secular works were not damaged in the 1936 fire and that SIT had already been contracted for their dismantling and transport.
The move is separate from the return of the Chapter House murals, whose transfer is more technically complex because of their condition. A 2016 ruling requiring the MNAC to return the murals was upheld by Spain’s Supreme Court in 2025. In April, a court set a maximum of 56 weeks for the return, a timetable upheld in October by the Huesca Provincial Court, which rejected an appeal by Villanueva de Sijena’s town council. The deadline for completing that return extends to spring 2027.
Sources: elDiario.es.