The Huesca Provincial Commission for Cultural Heritage authorized the transfer work last Friday, October 9. The work was commissioned to SIT, a company hired by the MNAC. In this regard, the MNAC acknowledged in statements to ACN that the museum was responsible for deciding the date and that the schedule submitted by the Government of Aragon was “outdated.”
Sources from the Government of Aragon consulted by this newspaper acknowledged that the MNAC had not communicated with them in any way and that, if the planned deadlines changed, these “had to be notified.” They also recalled that the maximum deadline stipulated in SIT’s contract with the MNAC was November 30, but that this “is not the deadline set by the Government of Aragon.”
The DGA is therefore awaiting news from the MNAC regarding the transfer of the secular paintings. The procedures proposed by SIT and the timetable for the work were approved by the Provincial Commission, although it warned that the work had to be agreed upon with the technicians appointed by the regional government.
Mar Vaquero, vice president and culture minister of the Government of Aragon, described the authorization issued on October 9 as the “prelude to the return of all the paintings.” It should be recalled that the 56-week deadline the MNAC has to return the mural paintings to Sijena Monastery remains in force, setting the limit at June 2027. In statements made last July, Vaquero said the museum had already accumulated “eleven weeks of delay” compared with the court-ordered timetable.
