Paris, 2 October 2025 – The work Study for the mural “La Reconcentración”, by the renowned Cuban painter Leopoldo Romañach, has been included in UNESCO's innovative Virtual Museum of Stolen Cultural Goods, a pioneering tool in the global fight against illicit trafficking of heritage. The Cuban piece is, so far, the only one from a small island developing state in Latin America and the Caribbean featured on this platform, highlighting the universal value of its historical and artistic testimony.
The inclusion of this work underscores Cuba's active and ongoing collaboration with UNESCO in the protection of cultural heritage. It also represents an exceptional opportunity to present to the world a jewel of Cuban visual arts that, unfortunately, was removed from the holdings of the National Museum of Cuba.
According to Cuban experts from the National Council of Cultural Heritage, the oil on canvas Study for the mural “La Reconcentración” was created by Leopoldo Romañach (1862–1951) between 1928 and 1930, as a preparatory study for a mural in the National Capitol of Havana. The project, intended to represent a tragic episode in Cuban history, never materialized due to the 1929 economic crisis. Romañach preserved the sketches, which were later bequeathed to the National Museum of Cuba.
The work reflects the human consequences of the reconcentration policy imposed by General Valeriano Weyler during the War of Independence (1895–1898), which displaced thousands of peasants to fortified towns, where hunger and disease caused a humanitarian catastrophe. The scene shows a family devastated by the loss of a child, evoking vulnerability, mourning, and collective suffering. Its composition, with resonances of the Christian iconography of the Pietà, reinforces the symbolic and memorial impact of the work for Cuban culture.
On the occasion of Mondiacult 2025, UNESCO launched the Virtual Museum of Stolen Cultural Goods, the first of its kind in the world. It is an immersive experience that brings together more than 240 stolen cultural objects, presented in 2D and 3D, along with the stories and voices of their communities of origin.
More than a museum, it is a tool to raise awareness about illicit trafficking, promote stronger protection policies, strengthen provenance research, and foster international cooperation for restitution.