Church of England plans to sell 12 works by Zurbarán

Church of England plans to sell 12 works by Zurbarán
larger | smaller
By h.b. - Feb 8, 2011 - 1:37 PM
There are protests about the planned sale in the U.K.

One of the works by Zurbarán

The Church of England plans to sell 12 works from the Spanish painter, Francisco de Zurbarán, considered to be one of the moral symbols of the institution.

A row is breaking out over the future sale of Las doce tribus de Israel, Jacob y sus hijos, which have been decorating the halls of Auckland Castle in Durham since the 18th century.
The works date from about 1640 and were headed for the United States, but the boat carrying them was attacked by British pirates who then reportedly sold them to the best bidder.

The twelve canvasses, and one fake, are set to be sold at public auction, and are expected to obtain 18 million €.

However there is an active campaign against the sale. Neil McGregor, Director of the British Museum, is among those opposing the sale of the paintings. He showed them in 1994 in the National Gallery in London and the following year in the Prado in Madrid, and declared to The Times last week,

‘There are no paintings, in my opinion, which speak in such a powerful way of the commitment of the Church of England to society’.

The final decision on the sale is in the hands of the Bishops synod which meet in London later this month.

Click here for related stories

mobile |

email this article | print

printer friendly page

More Spain Culture News

Readers' comments:
Please keep to the subject. Opinions published here are of our visitors, not the Typically Spanish team. Comments which go against Spanish laws or which are libellous are not allowed. We reserve the right to delete any comment we wish. Placing a comment indicates you have read our terms and conditions and privacy policy.

Por favor, céntrate en el tema. Son las opiniones de los internautas, y no las de Typically Spanish. No está permitido verter comentarios contrarios a las leyes españolas o injuriantes. Reservado el derecho a eliminar los comentarios que consideremos fuera de tema. Escribir un comentario indica que has leído nuestros condiciones de uso y politica de privacidad.