Over 470 works of art from the Muñoz Ramonet legacy recovered
An initial inventory shows that most of the works match the list of pieces being claimed by the Fundació Muñoz Ramonet and form part of the Bosch i Catarineu collection. The works were confiscated in an operation by the Givil Guard Central Unit for Historical Heritage (UCO), coordinated and directed by Barcelona’s Court 29, which is investigating the criminal case bought by the foundation against the businessman’s daughters in 2014.
The set of paintings and drawings accounts for the most works and brings together various technical works, support formats, schools and periods.
- Sections from painted screens from the 14th to 16th centuries: 17
- Paintings from the 16th to 18th centuries: 53
- Paintings from the 19th century: 93
- Paintings from the 20th century: 213
The police operation culminated in February with the confiscation of a first package of works of art, with a second operation at private homes and at various social premises of the defendants, where more works were confiscated and inventories and financial assurance policies located for the various items of interest to the investigation. This is an initial step, as there are still a significant number of works to be located: around 50 paintings and drawings, 7 sculptures, 173 miniatures and 13 ivories.
25 years of legal proceedings
In his final will, Julio Muñoz Ramonet named his four daughters as the universal inheritors of his extensive heritage, establishing different legacies. He also specified his will to give a public dimension to the art collection he had assembled and left it to the city by leaving the two houses which contained it, one at C/ Muntaner, 282-288, and the other at C/ Avenir, 26-28.
The daughters and the executors of the will kept silent and hid this from the City Council, which took four years to discover it. The continued obstruction on the part of the daughters to prevent the last wishes of their father from being carried out obliged the Fundació Julio Muñoz Ramonet to bring various cases, culminating with the handing over of the keys to the properties on 10 April 2013.
Misappropriation of the legacy and criminal proceedings
After the issues over the ownership of the legacy was resolved, based on the final judgement delivered by the Supreme Court in 2012, Barcelona’s court of first instance number 1 ordered the defendants to return the content of the properties as well.
The most characteristic works of art from the collection were found to be missing from the houses in C/ Muntaner and C/ Avenir in July 2013.
The concealment led the Fundació Julio Muñoz Ramonet to bring proceedings against the defendants in 2014, with Barcelona’s investigating court no. 29 instructing in the case since then.
