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Upon the conclusion of the highly acclaimed and extremely popular Antwerp experience, which over a period of three months had brought together within the graceful walls of the cathedral two hundred works of the most outstanding Hispano Flemish art, the Las Edades del Hombre Foundation Committee, in light of the numerous requests received from a variety of public and private organizations and institutions, decided at its April 1966 meeting to extend the period of exhibitions.
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The members of the Committee were of the opinion that, in order to be complete, the series of exhibitions should eventually include each of the dioceses of the region; subsequent exhibitions, however, should take place at appropriate intervals and be timed to coincide with anniversaries of important events within the diocese, such as Centenaries and Holy Years.
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At the same meeting it was decided that the next exhibition would be held in 1997 at El Burgo de Osma Cathedral, on the basis that this particular diocese would then be celebrating the 14th centenary of its foundation. The diocese thus having existed for fourteen centuries, 1997 constitutes a unique opportunity for us to come to know, to admire and to take steps towards the preservation of the religious, artistic and cultural legacy of such a long period of history. This exhibition has once more been made possible by the financial backing of Caja de Salamanca y Soria and the Regional Government of Castilla Le≤n. It has also been able to rely on the efficient collaboration of the Ministry of Culture, the Tudor Company, the Provincial Council of Soria and that of a number of other institutions, all of which have participated with unbridled enthusiasm.
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And of course the team that had been in charge of all the previous exhibitions held in Valladolid, Burgos, Le≤n, Salamanca and Antwerp once again set about work in the spring of 1996. Their task was to comb through the extensive lands belonging to the diocese in terms of both its historical and present day boundaries, in search of graphic documents on, amongst other things, paintings, sculptures, capitals, retables, books, documents, codices, music scores and liturgical ornaments. Preparations were thus under way for a new demonstration of the acts of man and time, of the experience of faith, which were to disseminate art all over these lands; and to put this art on display, in the form of an inspiring journey, for the pleasure of visitors to El Burgo de Osma Cathedral.
