Police Are Investigating Spanish Nuns After a Statue Owned by Their Convent Turned Up for Sale at TEFAF

A convent of nuns in Grenada,
Spain is under investigation by the country’s national police,
after a sculpture of a saint near-identical to one that formerly
sat above the altar at a local church popped up for sale in the
TEFAF New York fair catalog. 

The 17th-century wooden
sculpture—offered by Madrid-baser dealer Nicolas Cortes for
€350,000 ($390,446)—has been identified as a depiction of Italian
saint Margarita de Cortona, created by Baroque sculptor José de Mora. It’s believed to
have been illicitly sold by the Franciscan priory after the
convent’s closure in 2018. In Spain, the vending of church
valuables is illegal unless conducted by the state.

Sister Josefa, the mother
superior of the convent, denied the accusations in a statement to
El País, claiming that the church is still in possession
of the look-alike statue—though
she would not disclose its whereabouts—and citing the positioning of the figure’s left
hand as proof that the work offered by Cortes is a different
sculpture. 

The nun went on to suggest that
it was merely a case of confusion, positing that the statue at
TEFAF New York was mistaken for the convent’s own, which she said
is actually a depiction of St. Rose of Viterbo, made by an unknown
artist. 

For his part, Cortes has been
cooperating with authorities, maintaining that he purchased the
sculpture for €100,000 from an antique dealer in 2018; he provided the
purchase invoice and export permit to Spanish police. “[The dealer] told me it was from a private collection,” he told El
País. “I wouldn’t think of going to a convent to buy because
it’s illegal.” Despite the controversy, the statue is still
currently
listed as available
on the gallery’s website.

“The sculpture ‘Saint Margaret of Cortona’ was acquired from an
antique dealer in 2018 and subsequently exported that same
year from Spain to the United Kingdom, strictly following the
established legal channels at all times,” the gallery reiterated in
a statement sent to Artnet News. “It has been recently exhibited
at the TEFAF New York fair, without being sold. Currently the
work is in Spain again.”

This is not the first time that
the convent in Grenada has been suspected of selling off religious
artworks. In 2018, other items it owned, including a processional
altarpiece and additional statues, were spotted at a flea market in
Madrid. Though the nuns claim the objects in question had been sent
for restoration, Grenada residents said that one of the statues
matched a description of a work detailed in a tourist guide of the
city’s legacy.

The post Police Are Investigating Spanish Nuns After a
Statue Owned by Their Convent Turned Up for Sale at TEFAF
appeared first on artnet News.