The Supreme Court Orders Catalan Government to Return Sijena Murals to Aragon

The Supreme Court has ruled in favour of Aragon against Catalonia, ordering the Mnac in Barcelona, Catalonia's national art museum, to return Romanesque mural paintings to their original location, the Monastery of Villanueva de Sijena in Huesca. These murals are considered the crown jewel of the artistic collection that Catalonia holds from the Aragonese temple, displayed in the Barcelona museum as "a masterpiece of 1200 art and a unique and essential example of Hispanic medieval art," according to the Catalan museum.

Similar to the ongoing dispute between the United Kingdom and Greece over the Parthenon Marbles, this is an old legal battle with political, artistic, judicial, and even ecclesiastical ramifications, which began in 1995 due to a Vatican decision to reorganise dozens of parishes between the dioceses of Barbastro-Monzón and Lleida.

The frescoes were moved from Aragon to Catalonia in 1936 after the Huesca monastery, then part of the Lleida diocese, was set ablaze during the Civil War by anarchists. A civil servant from the then Republican Generalitat rescued them from the ashes and took them to Catalonia for restoration. Since 1961, they have been on display at the Mnac. The Supreme Court has now ruled that the Mnac does not own the paintings, stating they were "removed" from the chapter house of the Sijena Monastery.

Catalonia also housed various Sijena works, totalling 44, which were kept in the Lleida museum. However, in 2017, following a court order and a Civil Guard intervention at the Lleida gallery during the enforcement of Article 155, they were sent to Huesca. Carles Puigdemont, who had just been dismissed following the declaration of independence, described it as cultural "plundering" against Catalonia. The Generalitat had purchased the 44 works from the monastery's nuns for 300,000 euros between 1983 and 1994, but the sale was declared null by a judge in 2015.

Despite court rulings mandating the Generalitat to return the pieces to Aragon, the Catalan Government has attempted for years to avoid handing over the artistic treasure. This led to two of its Culture Ministers, Santi Vila and Lluís Puig, being tried for refusal.

This is the third judicial ruling, following the initial court and the Huesca Provincial Court, ordering the Catalan Government to restore this artistic work, considered a Romanesque gem. During the prolonged legal battle, a court once halted the order to return this work of "extraordinary artistic value" due to its "vulnerable" condition. This has been the Generalitat's consistent argument, supported by expert reports advising against the transfer due to potential irreparable damage.

"This is a ruling that cannot be executed without putting the paintings at very high risk of destruction. Experts worldwide have warned," stated Puigdemont on Wednesday. Former Minister and Parliament President Laura Borràs referred to it as "artistic lawfare."