Merlion
04-18-2007, 06:42 AM
A priceless stone sculpture, a centerpiece, has disappeared from Madrid's most famous museum.
Madrid Museum Misplaces Priceless Statue (http://www.nysun.com/article/52704)
April 18, 2007, MADRID, Spain — The most famous art museum in Madrid, the Prado, said it has "mislaid" a 19th-century stone sculpture weighing three tons that was supposed to form the centerpiece of a renovated wing.
The statue, which represents the three muses of painting, sculpture, and architecture, is the work of the Spanish sculptor Jeronimo Sunol and it had graced the entrance to the north wing of the Prado Museum since the late 1800s.
But it was removed for repairs and cleaning sometime in the 1970s and has not been seen since.
Architects in charge of renovating the facade of the building said they had tried to track down the piece, which they hoped to restore to its original place, but it failed to appear on any inventory records. .... neither the Museum, the Ministry of Culture, nor the Madrid City Hall, which has stored large artworks in the past, have any record of the piece. According to auctioneers in Madrid, the work is priceless.....
Madrid Museum Misplaces Priceless Statue (http://www.nysun.com/article/52704)
April 18, 2007, MADRID, Spain — The most famous art museum in Madrid, the Prado, said it has "mislaid" a 19th-century stone sculpture weighing three tons that was supposed to form the centerpiece of a renovated wing.
The statue, which represents the three muses of painting, sculpture, and architecture, is the work of the Spanish sculptor Jeronimo Sunol and it had graced the entrance to the north wing of the Prado Museum since the late 1800s.
But it was removed for repairs and cleaning sometime in the 1970s and has not been seen since.
Architects in charge of renovating the facade of the building said they had tried to track down the piece, which they hoped to restore to its original place, but it failed to appear on any inventory records. .... neither the Museum, the Ministry of Culture, nor the Madrid City Hall, which has stored large artworks in the past, have any record of the piece. According to auctioneers in Madrid, the work is priceless.....