The impact of heritage protection policies during the Civil War (1936-1939) on the configuration of Catalan museums

Warfare and social revolutions are probably the most important cause of heritage losses and the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) was no exception. The devastating effects of the military conflict on heritage were inventoried and profusely analyzed from the moment of the conflict. In parallel to the destruction, an enormous effort to protect the heritage took place led by the Government of the Republic and in Catalonia by the Catalan government. It will not be until the turn of the century when the work on the actions of the government of the Republic in the protection of heritage will become a consolidated and fully standardized line of research. However, the impact of these policies on the history of museology and the subsequent museum landscape has not been addressed.
Based on the study of republican and early Franco documentary and archival sources and the funds of Catalan public museums, the ICRPC carries out the project “The impact of the civil war on the configuration of museums in Catalonia. Traceability, location and destination of saved cultural assets” financed by the Ministry of Science and Innovation, the Agency and the European Regional Development Fund, to determine the influence of the Civil War on the current configuration of Catalan museums.

Gemma Domènech i Casadevall, director Institut Català de Recerca en Patrimoni Cultural

For more information: https://journals.openedition.org/midas/3908

Image: View of the room dedicated to the Sant Feliu altarpiece in the Art Museum of Girona (Photography by Jordi S. Carrera).