The Auckland Project

Factum Foundation is working on an exciting new initiative to bring some of the masterpieces of Spanish art to County Durham, UK. Led by the art collector Jonathan Ruffer, the Auckland Project is working to regenerate large sections of the town of Bishop Auckland. The fully restored Auckland Castle, for hundreds of years the seat of a powerful bishopric, was opened to the public last month, and is again home to Zurbaran's famous series Jacob and his twelve sons, bought in 1756 by Bishop Trevor. Factum Foundation has been commissioned by the Auckland Project to create a digital resource and produce facsimiles of other major paintings and sculptural works for display within the new Spanish Gallery – the first museum in the UK to be devoted to Spanish art. Factum is a Spanish foundation and is honoured to be working on this important initiative.

Among the works being rematerialised are Berrugete's masterpiece, the sepulchre for Cardinal Tavera, and El Greco's portrait of Cardinal Tavera. Both works are from the Hospital of Cardinal Tavera in Toledo and are evidence of the close collaboration between the Fundación Casa Ducal de Medinaceli, the Auckland Project and Factum Foundation.

El Greco's tabernacle has also been recorded and a digital restoration is underway. One of El Greco's few sculptures was housed in a gilded architectural construction that was paraded through the streets of Toledo. The digital reconstruction uses the material evidence available and historical research to reconstruct the theatrical impact of this dynamic sculpture.