The government of Aragon appeared this Friday at the Civil Court of the first instance and instruction number 2 of Huesca. The request for forced execution of the sentence ordering the return of the mural paintings of the Royal Monastery of Santa María de Sijena to the Aragonese Cenobium, the place to which they legitimately belong.
After the voluntary delivery period ended, in which the National Art Museum of Catalonia (MNAC) had to return the assets, the Aragonese executive has made this request to the court to proceed with the forced execution of the judicial sentence, with the desire that the wall paintings and the object of profane painting in this procedure be returned as soon as possible.
The Supreme Court judgment 824/2025, of May 27, 2025, ratifies the judgment 174/2020 issued by the Provincial Court of Huesca which, in turn, confirmed the judgment 51/2026 of the First Instance Court and number 2 of Huesca.
In all three cases, the obligation is determined that the MNAC restores to the Sijena monastery the 35 fragments of mural paintings from the chapter house and the 8 fragments of profane paintings, a total of 43 fragments that the Catalan museum exhibits in its rooms 16 and 17.
Other requirements
In addition to requesting the forced execution of the Supreme Court, the Aragonese government has submitted to the court a report on the suitability of the current structural and environmental conditions of the monastery’s chapter house for the restitution of the works to their place of origin.
An estimated schedule of tasks to be carried out by the MNAC to comply with the sentence has also been attached, including various phases of prior documentation and procedure tests; drafting of dismantling, packaging, and transfer projects; service tenders; and execution of dismantling, packaging, and transfer projects. For all this, an estimated period of seven months is indicated.
Likewise, the MNAC is requested to immediately allow Aragonese technicians access to rooms 16 and 17 of the museum, for as long as they require and with all the auxiliary means they deem necessary, with both rooms closed to the public.
Access to the paintings and their current exhibition mounting system, as well as all related documentation preserved in the MNAC files, is considered absolutely essential for the government of Aragon to plan the reception of the works with total guarantees of conservation and security.
It is also considered essential to have access to data on the environmental conditions, temperature, and relative humidity of these rooms and the rooms where the fragments have been previously exhibited since entering the MNAC.
It is requested that, as part of the documentation and data collection work that the Aragonese government technicians must carry out in these closed rooms of the MNAC, a photogrammetric survey of both rooms with all their exposed fragments will be allowed as the first inevitable action.
Finally, the imposition of pecuniary fines is requested at a rate of 5,000 euros per day of non-compliance with the weekly milestones established in the calendar attached to the court, as well as the warning of the commission of the crime of disobedience to the judicial authority by the director of the MNAC and the president of its board of directors.
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