Conservation

The university collections are truly valuable and date back to ancient times. Taking into consideration an overview of the history of various collections and museums, along with the great variety of university works’ origins and a large number of fragile pieces, the conservation of this extensive and diverse heritage is nearly miraculous.

It should be noted that giving significance and respecting artistic and cultural heritage is a relatively recent doctrine. Political upheavals during the decline of the Ancien Régime led to the creation of the first public museums. These institutions focused on gathering artworks that actually were decontextualized of their environments and histories. Awareness of this issue grew significantly during the outbreak of the World Wars at the beginning of the 20th century. It was at this specific moment that international society decided to not lose an appreciable part of its history because of the monumental and artistic heritage destruction. Major organizations such as Unesco, Icom, Icrom, all dedicated to the safeguarding and preservation of culture, came into being.

Nevertheless, many artworks were lost mainly due to the numerous changes in administrative settings that have occurred over time. The University of Seville could not avoid this relentless problem throughout its five centuries of history. Some of the most tragic losses include the stripping of the building and the church of Colegio de Santa María de Jesús College, the disappearance of the magnificent and gorgeous Casa Profesa de los Jesuitas due to the developmentalism of the 1960s and its subsequent transformation into the Faculty of Fine Arts, and finally the emptiness that the walls of the first Mannerist temple in Seville, the Iglesia de la Anunciación Church, display nowadays.

To mitigate these problems generated mainly by the dispersion of the collection, the University of Seville has implemented a comprehensive campaign for the restoration of works. Simultaneously, it has initiated a project of inventorying, classifying and conserving this vast artistic heritage. Some of the main goals established at the outset of this research, which have indeed been achieved, include:

• Listing, quantifying, marking, and classifying the vast majority of artworks, specifying their characteristics as precisely as possible.
• Diagnosing the conservation status of all artworks to enhance their preservation and propose interventions when necessary.
• Controlling the locations and movements of all pieces, thus preventing their dispersion or disappearance.
• Disseminating the wealth of the university collection through exhibitions, publications, and the university website.

Consequently, the University of Seville has made available to society the monumental and artistic heritage that it has safeguarded throughout its five centuries of history for the purposes of study, education and enjoyment. The entire University Collection has once again been brought together, as it was in its origins, albeit virtually this time, thanks to the development of new technologies.