The Wanganui Chronicle WEDNESDAY, MARCH 22, 1939. THE ART TREASURES OF SPAIN

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 68, 22 March 1939, Page 6

The Wanganui Chronicle WEDNESDAY, MARCH 22, 1939. THE ART TREASURES OF SPAIN

Q.XK of the most regrettable results of the Italo-German-cum-Moroccan war against the Spanish people is the destruction which has been done to many noble buildings. That there was some destruction of buildings and churches before the flat' broke out is true, but this is to be attributed to the belief on the part of many people in Spain, that such buildings represented the citadels of reactionism. The destruction of noble buildings lias gone on apace since the hostilities have ravaged the country, and much has been said concerning the loss of the art treasures for which Spain has been long famous. It was to the credit of the Republican Government that it took great care Io keep safe the art treasures which came info its possession or under its care. The story, one of the most interesting in the history of wars, has now been completed and is worthy of the telling, for it reveals that the Republican Government was composed of men of sensibility and of appreciation for things which are the treasured possessions of the nations. Nor was there any effort, made to exploit the possession of these treasures for individual gain. This is truly remarkable, seeing that the politicians who have escaped from Spain will, in all probability, be penniless men without a country. When warfare was taking its toll of the treasures of the country the Government secured as many of. the art treasures it could discover and had them carefully housed in Ihe Eastern Pyrenees. Here they were safe, but only comparatively so. The presence of risk of loss caused art lovers in various countries to fake the initiative to place the treasures in even more safer conditions. A small committee representing leading art institutions in France, the. United Kingdom, the United States and Switzerland, supervised the pictures and other works of art at Geneva, where they were deposited under guard in the library of the League of Nations, where they will remain until I hey can, in happier times, be returned to the Spanish nation. The small committee’s duty having been discharged, it was dissolved and arrangements were made for the. formation of a larger committee of experts and connoisseurs, to whom would be entrusted the responsibility of opening the 1842 cases, taking an inventory of their contents, and, if such a plan be feasible, arranging for an exhibition of a selection of the works in Geneva. General Franco sent an observer to Geneva when the pictures arrived there. The treasures comprise pictures from the famous Prado Gallery as well as tapestries from the Royal Palace, porcelain, gold and silver work, manuscripts and sculpture. Only the, nfost precious pieces of sculpture are included owing to the difficulty of transporting larger specimens. Masters represented in the collection are Goya (115 works), Elm Greco (43), Velasquez (45), Titian (38), Ruebens (25. Murillos and examples of the French, Dutch and Flemish schools are believed to have been included. As soon as the agreement to transfer these treasures had been concluded, they were concentrated and packed at three points near the French frontier. On the night of February 4 they were loaded on to seventy-one military lorries, and hardly bad the last lorry left one of the points of concentration than that place went up in flames, so close were they to the scene of hostilities. The treasures were delivered at Geneva on February 13 at midnight. Whatever opinions may be entertained concerning the political opinions of the members of the Government of Spain, it. must be said that they acted as gentlemen in respect to the. art treasures of their country. Men who so acted could not have been wholly devoid of political virtue.