Restitution archivos

18Jun2018

What’s going on with the Christopher Columbus Charters?

18 June, 2018

Christopher Columbus, forgery, illicit trafficking, Restitution, stolen antiquties Cases

Last June 6th, 2018, a ceremony at the Embassy of Spain in the United States, in Washington, took place to return one of the incunabula copies of the Charter of Christopher Columbus, printed in 1493, stolen years before the National Library of Catalonia and found and seized by the North American authorities.

The story of this document seems a spy novel since it brings together all kinds of factors: mystery, theft, counterfeiting, smuggling, shady business, international projection, money and, above all, fascination.

13Feb2017

And finally… Will the UK ratify the 1954 Hague Convention?

13 February, 2017

Marta Suárez-Mansilla

Cultural Heritage, Hague Convention, Restitution, UK News

Unfortunately, the 1954 Hague Convention is again in full force since the recent confrontation in Syria has once again exposed the vulnerability of cultural heritage. The Convention, drafted after the devastating destructive effects of cultural goods produced during the World War II, sought to synthesise a shared desire that such losses would not recur in the future.

21Nov2016

Guernica: a ticket towards Democracy

21 November, 2016

Marta Suárez-Mansilla

Guernica, Picasso, Restitution Cases

Guernica is one of the great masterpieces of the 20th century. The symbolic value of this piece, commissioned by the Spanish government to Pablo Picasso in 1937 to represent Spain at the Paris Universal Exhibition, surpasses the events that the painting itself was intended to convey. Josep Arnau, the General Director of Fine Arts at the time, along with other intellectuals and politicians of the moment, visited Picasso in Paris in January of 1937, and formally proposed to him the realisation of the work. The artist accepted, but by early April had not yet come to outline his work and the date of the universal exhibition was approaching.