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From this mornings Daily Telegraph London:

Monks lift ban on women viewing Goya frescos
By Tim Brown in Madrid
A BAN on women viewing 11 Goya frescos in a closed monastery in
northern Spain is to be lifted after delicate and drawn-out
negotiations between the monks, art lovers and local authorities.
The ban on women visiting the 16th-century Aula Dei monastery eight
miles from Zaragoza was imposed in accordance with the asceticism
demanded by Saint Bruno when he founded the Carthusian order in the
1080s. It was intended to protect the celibate life of the monks. It
remained despite a clamour for the chapel to be opened fully to the
public because of interest in the Goyas.
The monks go without meat, eat bread and water on Fridays, and speak
to each other only on Sundays. They wear hair shirts, and live in
single cells. They insisted on their refusal to allow their solitary
lives to be disturbed by women despite the hostility of local
authorities who funded a restoration of the frescos, which Goya
painted in 1774 and which depict scenes of the life of the Virgin
Mary.
Only three women have got past the ban and entered the monastery to
view the frescos. One was Queen Sofia, another a court official and
the third, Teresa Grasa, an art restorer allowed in a few years ago
and who has played a key part in the negotiations. On all occasions,
special dispensation was required.
The matter came to a head two years ago on the 250th anniversary of
Goya's birth. The monks stood firm, denying women entry. The women
rejected an offer to be shown photographs of the frescos.
The Vatican shrugged off the mounting furore, saying it was for the
monks to decide who entered their monastery. The Aragon regional
government reacted by closing the chapel to the public on the
grounds that if women could not go in to see them, then the
masterpieces could not be seen by anyone.
Art lovers, women's rights groups, the Aragon government, the city
hall at Zaragoza and Church authorities all became involved. There
were protests by feminists at the gates of the monastery. Talks
continued for two years with little progress, the monks refusing to
shift their position.
Under the agreement worked out this week, a corridor will be built
from outside into the chapel so that visitors will not have to pass
through the monks' living quarters.
The prior, aware of the financial loss of keeping the frescos closed
to the public, consulted his brothers and they consented. Now an
architect has been commissioned to design a passageway to the chapel.
It will be ready in six months.

c Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1998.


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