The case of the disappeared Choir from La Seu d'Urgell and the Citizen Kane acquisition

Dinner with famous guests at Castle Hearst in 1933

The case of the disappeared Choir from La Seu d'Urgell and the Citizen Kane acquisition

There was a Gothic Choir in La Seu d'Urgell Cathedral, in a style similar to the Barcelona one.  In 1920 the great Architect Puig i Cadafalch, which had become President of the Mancomunitat de Catalunya, in a big restoration of the Cathedral, cleaned it from Gothic and Renaissance interventions, and left it in a Romanic Way.

Choir of La Seu d'Urgell before its remove

The work of Puig i Cadafalch dismantled the Cathedral of all the Art influences and interventions suffered, in an attempt of restore the Temple to its original condition.

¿What happened to the Choir? The Collector Arthur Byne, settled in Madrid, acquired it and sent it to the United States for the Art Collection of Randolph Hearst.  Hearst began in 1917 the construction of his beloved Castle in San Simeon, California, with the aim of the Architect and friend Julia Morgan.  The Choir, divided in 4 sections, was placed in the Refectory, and Hearst enjoyed the company of the carved seats of La Seu d'Urgell for years and years, while having banquets with notorious figures of the culture and Hollywood.

Hearst in the Refectory in front of the Choir Stalls

William Randolph Hearst died in 1951, and the Castle was donated in 1957 to the State of California by the Hearst Corporation. Hearst Castle joined the National Register of Historic Places on 1972, and has thousands of visitors each year.

The Project of Spanish Gothic Stalls will like to include the Choir of La Seu d'Urgell in its Digization, so we have contacted the California State Parks, which have the management of Hearst Castle, and received the Authorization to Photography in detail the Choir in the Refectory of Hearst Castle for cataloguing and maybe Virtual Reconstruction of its pieces.

Another complete seat is settled in the Museo Lazaro Galdiano in Madrid, and we will begin also contacts for its cataloguing in the Hearst Castle set.  Maybe one day we will be able to offer a Virtual visit to the La Seu Cathedral for the lost Choir....