El Corte Inglés first became involved in the conservation and restoration of artworks in the museum collection in 1990. In 2000, the department store stepped up its participation in the programme, giving it greater stability with the launch of the Zaindu–The Museum Restores programme, which every year selects several works requiring either conservation treatments or complex restoration processes. Besides updating the material conditions of the works, the work is decisive in ensuring each work is catalogued correctly and that our knowledge and insight into the way the artists worked is significantly enhanced. In other words, the work done is vital for the proper scientific understanding of the museum collection.

Major programme initiatives this year include:

• • Gustavo de Maeztu, Women of the Sea, c. 1916
• • José María de Ucelay, Conversation Piece, Cum Tiffin (Escena de conversación, almuerzo) or Urrutia and Aranoa, c. 1951
• • José María de Ucelay, Conversation Piece, Just Leisure (Escena de conversación, ocio) or Hemingway and Duñabeitia, 1957
• • Vicente Larrea Cepa 2, 1967
• • Carlos Sáenz de Tejada, The militia at Extremadura, 1936.
• • Carlos Sáenz de Tejada, Basque village in 1936, 1936
• • Alberto Durero, The Virgin of the wall, 1514.
• • Pieter van der Werff, Samson and Delilah, 17th century, end.

In the picture (from left to right): Javier Viar,director of the museum; Blanca Urgell, Regional Minister for Culture of the Basque Government, Ángel Serna, director of El Corte Inglés Bilbao and José Luis Merino Gorospe, head of the Conservation and Restoration Department.