Sepulcher in New York and the copy in Les Avellanes

The monastery of Santa Maria de Bellpuig de les Avellanes, in Os de Balaguer, has installed a reproduction of one of the four Gothic tombs of the Counts of Urgell that are preserved in The Cloisters museum in New York, dependent on the Metropolitan Museum of Art .

Oliver Thansan
Oliver Thansan
28 June 2023 Wednesday 22:42
5 Reads
Sepulcher in New York and the copy in Les Avellanes

The monastery of Santa Maria de Bellpuig de les Avellanes, in Os de Balaguer, has installed a reproduction of one of the four Gothic tombs of the Counts of Urgell that are preserved in The Cloisters museum in New York, dependent on the Metropolitan Museum of Art . With artificial stone and natural resins, the company 3DTècnics has replicated the tomb of Viscount Àger Álvar II de Cabrera. The replica has cost the Diputación de Lleida 30,000 euros. Years after the confiscation of Juan Álvarez de Mendizábal in 1836, already in 1906, the tomb of Álvar II, the double of Álvar I, Count of Urgell, that of the Countess Cecília de Foix and the Count of Ermengol X were sold by a banker from Lleida, Agustín Santesmases, to the antiquarian Luis Ruiz, who sold them to The Cloisters.

The director of the monestir de les Avellanes, Robert Porta, celebrated the installation of the replica, but pointed out that they have no intention of giving up the originals. The mayoress of Os de Balaguer and acting vice-president of the Lleida Provincial Council, Estefania Rufach, added that the intention is to add reproductions of the rest of the tombs in the complex over time.