Overview
- The carved, gilded and polychromed wooden relief depicting Saint Bonaventure was delivered to the parish priest of Santa Clara de Fitero on Tuesday following a judicial order that recognizes the Archdiocese of Pamplona and Tudela as the legitimate owner.
- Mossos d’Esquadra and the Policía Nacional located and intervened the work in Barcelona in late April and notified the judicial authority that later approved its return.
- The 81 x 45.5 x 10 cm piece is dated to the 16th century and is attributed to the circle of sculptor Juan de Anchieta; it likely formed part of an altarpiece of the Virgin of the Immaculate in the monastery's main altar.
- Investigators traced the relief’s route from Madrid’s El Rastro flea market through several private owners and a Barcelona auction house, a chain of transactions that triggered the provenance inquiry after the current buyer acquired it.
- The case highlights how stolen cultural objects can reappear via secondary markets and shows how coordinated police work, judicial action and provenance research can restore items to their ecclesiastical owners.