Since 2007, Dr Jan Graffius has been working in El Salvador conserving and displaying the powerful and poignant relics of Archbishop Óscar Romero, and of the Jesuits and their associates who were murdered in 1989. Her work, at times harrowing, has thrown up some extraordinary insights into the life and death of Romero, and many others who lost their lives to the death squads in that brutal civil war. Curatorial and conservation techniques have given these extraordinary artefacts a voice, and have revealed some hitherto unknown evidence of the last seconds of St Óscar Romero’s life.

This public lecture takes place at the Pichette Auditorium, Pembroke College. There will be a drinks reception after the talk.

About the speaker

Dr Jan Graffius FSA, Curator of Collections and Historic Libraries at Stonyhurst College since 2001, has worked for nearly 40 years in a variety of national and municipal museums in Scotland and England.

Jan has curated a number of exhibitions in Rome, France, Washington, Boston and in Britain. She has wide broadcasting experience and has published on a range of subjects, notably on Relics and English Catholic material culture in the post-Reformation era. Recent work has included videos and podcasts relating to the creative role of recusant women in the 17th century, focusing on the extraordinary embroideries of Helena Wintour as part of the Hot Holy Ladies exhibition at Stonyhurst in 2022. She is currently working on a celebration of Stonyhurst’s First Folio for the 400th anniversary, with a series of exhibits highlighting themes from Shakespeare’s plays through artefacts.

Since 2007, Jan has been involved in a major conservation project working on the Martyr Vestments of Saint Óscar Romero and items belonging to the Jesuit Martyrs of the University of Central America.

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