The Diplomat
Following the invasion of Ukraine, the Spanish government has claimed back from the Russian authorities a dozen pieces from the Royal Palace Armoury and a painting from the Prado Museum, which it had lent to Russia for an exhibition in Moscow.
The Kremlin confirmed that the pieces would be returned and according to National Heritage sources quoted by Europa Press, they are already on their way to Spain and are expected to arrive in Madrid in the next few days.
The pieces of armoury and the painting were to be shown in the exhibition ‘El duelo. From trial by combat to a noble crime’, which was due to open on 3 March. However, the outbreak of war forced the cancellation of the exhibition, and the main international institutions, including Spanish ones, which had loaned works and objects, demanded their return.
Spain had sent a number of pieces classified by Patrimonio Nacional as “valuable”, including a suit of armour of the Emperor Charles V and a suit of armour of a greyhound, as well as a saddle, and the painting ‘The Emperor Charles V’, by Juan Pantoja de la Cruz, owned by the Prado Museum. Other prestigious European institutions such as the Vienna Armoury, the English Royal Armoury, the Louvre Museum and the French National Library had also donated pieces for display in Moscow.
On the occasion of the invasion, the institutions involved coordinated an operation to return the works and objects on loan to their origin. “We made the movements with the rest of the European institutions, we all left together in a convoy to the German city of Cologne, and at all times the diplomatic and cultural work was respected,” explained Patrimonio Nacional.
When the works and objects arrive in Madrid, they must be acclimatised for two or three days before being exhibited again and, coinciding with their return to Spain, Patrimonio Nacional is preparing to reopen the first floor of the Armoury of the Royal Palace, closed due to the pandemic, where the pieces that have recently arrived from Moscow will be exhibited.
Prado sources told Europa Press that the recovery of Juan Pantoja’s work has not led to any conflict with the Russian government. “The cooperation of the Kremlin Museums has been absolute, and the painting is returning to Spain without any problems and will arrive in the next few days,” they confirmed.
This was the only work from the art gallery that was in Russia when the war began, and no further collaboration with the Russian government or cultural institutions is planned.
The Minister of Culture and Sport, Miquel Iceta, justified the decision to reclaim the works and objects from the Kremlin as a way of expressing rejection of the war.
Iceta opened the door, however, to those Russian artists who publicly reject the aggression against Ukraine. “We have to cease all collaboration with the Russian government, but we are clearly in favour of those who, from within, are opposed (to the conflict),” the minister said, assuring that he was “not prepared to renounce Russian culture”.
