“Cáceres.—Here again the Central Commission could get no account of the works of art which were known to have existed, more especially in the magnificent Hieronymite Monastery of Guadalupe, near Logrosan. The Provincial Commission, acting on the authority of that in Madrid, proceeded to ascertain what still remained within the walls of the convent, when they were resisted by the ‘Ayuntamiento’ of the town of Guadalupe, who pretended that all that was in the church and convent belonged to the parish, and not to the state.
“Cadiz.—Those who first collected the pictures took care to catalogue them without giving the subjects or the sizes, and mixed up together paintings and prints, so that it was impossible to say what had been stolen. The report goes on to say that the sale of certain pictures was not less irregular and culpable in itself, than the lawfulness of the manner in which the produce of the sale was applied appeared doubtful. The Local Commission of Arts and Sciences thought it prudent to abstain from criminal proceedings against any one; but the pictures yet remaining were in such a state of decay that to protect themselves they caused a procès verbal to be drawn up, setting forth their condition.
“Cuenca.—All sorts of plunder had gone on here, as elsewhere, but the Local Commissioners seem to have exerted themselves to rescue and place in safety what could yet be secured. The head of the Priory of Santiago de Uclés resisted them. The number of pictures collected is not given.
“Gerona.—In August, 1842, the ‘Gefe Político’ reported the existence of certain pictures, as he said, of little merit; but, bad or good, they seem to have disappeared by 1845.
“Granada.—Here a museum was formed in 1839, and in 1842 a catalogue of eight hundred and eighty-four pieces of sculpture and painting was transmitted to the Secretary of State. By January, 1844, it would appear that some, probably many, of them had been stolen, and the report does not tell us how many remained.
“Guadalajara.—It appears that out of four hundred and thirty pictures, a few only were considered to be originals of any value, and were attributed to Ribera, Zurbaran, Carreño, el Greco, and others, for the most part Spanish masters. Twenty-five were completely ruined.
“Guipuzcoa.—The civil war in this province has been the cause and the pretext for the disappearance of many works of art. ‘Since,’ says the report, ‘whilst many have been destroyed on the one hand, on the other the state of affairs has thrown a shield over those who have profited by the confusion, and have unjustly appropriated the property of the state.’
“Jaen.—The Local Commission of Jaen in the course of nine months got together five hundred and twenty-three pictures, of which they reported two hundred and eighty-five as worthless, and placed two hundred and thirty-eight in the old Jesuit convent. The names of Murillo, Zurbaran, Alonso Cano, Castillo, Orrente, Melgar, Juan de Sevilla, Guzman, Coello, Titian, el Greco, and Albano, appear in the catalogue.
“Leon.—‘The necessity,’ says the report, ‘of quartering troops in the various convents of this province, and the scandalous tricks which we know to have been played with the works of art in the same, are the causes why the catalogue, which was framed in September of last year, appeared so imperfect and so scanty, since the number of objects was reduced to sixty-one pictures and three pieces of sculpture, deposited in the convent of the so-called “Monjas Catalinas.”’ No more favorable account seems to have been received at the time the report was drawn up.
“Lérida.—Here too the civil war is said to have caused the disappearance of most of the pictures in the convents; only eighteen of any merit had been collected in April, 1844, but some more were known to exist in the Seo de Urgel, where the local authorities however refused to give them up to the government. The Commission had not been able to obtain an accurate account even of the eighteen.