MUSEO DE COVADONGA. COLLECTIONS CATALOGUE

RESEARCH AND PATRONAGE. FUNDACIÓN MARÍA CRISTINA MASAVEU PETERSON

On the ocassion of the legal declaration of the National Park of Covadonga in 1918, the canonical coronation of the Virgin of Covadonga and the thirteenth centennial of the start of the Kingdom of Asturias in AD 718 the Foundation signed a partnership and patronage agreeement for a publishing project on the environs of the Royal Site of Covadonga, in Asturias.

This research project and publication was promoted and published by the the María Cristina Masaveu Peterson Foundatiom through the partnership agreement it signed with the Archbishopric of Oviedo. Its main objective was to showcase the collections housed by the Museum of the Royal Site of Covadonga. This project entailed rigorous reseach conducted under the scientific direction of Vidal de la Madrid (PhD in Art History from de Universidad de Oviedo) with major contributions from experts in the matter, including Javier Barón Thaidigsmann head of the Departmento of 19th-Century Painting at the Museo Nacional del Prado; Javier González Santos, Bachelor´s in the Art History from the Universidad de Oviedo and lead researcher at the Feijoo University Institute of 18th- Century studies; Yayoi Kawamura, PhD in Art History from Universidad de Oviedo, Alfonso Palacio, director of the Fine Arts Museum of Asturias since 2013; and Juan Tuñón Escalada, PhD in History and Church History.

Throughout the caltalogue´s 430 pages and 300 illustrations, both boasting extraordinary artistic quiality and educational potential, the authors present a survey of the invaluable heritage harboured at the Royal Site of Covadonga. It is an essensial tool for reseachers and visitor which highlights the history of the coleccions of the Museum of the Royal Site of Covadonga while also making them more accesible.

The launch of the publication Museo de Covadonga. Catálogo de sus colecciones was held in the institutional hall of the Chapterhouse of the Royal Site of Covadonga, and the participants and speakerts included the archbishop of Oviedo, Mons. Jesús Sanz Montes; the president of the Foundation, Fernando Masaveu; and the author and scientific director of the publication, Vidal de la Madrid Álvarez, as well as the other authors.

The Presentation Act took place on September 6, 2019 at the Institutional hall of the Chapter House of the Royal Site of Covadonga, with Mons. Jesús Sanz Montes, Archbishop of Oviedo; Mr. Fernando Masaveu, President of the María Cristina Masaveu Peterson Foundation; and Vidal de la Madrid Álvarez, Scientific Director of publication as speakers.

GALLERY