Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya i les Fonts de Montjuïc
The Museo Nacional d’Art de Catalunya is a beautiful building located on Montjuic. The Romanesque architecture implies that the museum is an ancient landmark, however it is not even one hundred years old as it was built in 1926 for the 1929 World Fair. A few years later in 1934, the building opened as a museum with various enormous collections. The collection that I viewed was the Medieval Romanesque Art section from the 11th through 13th centuries. The French coined the term “Romanesque” in the 19th century during a period of rich art and painting, which referred to the characteristically Roman art. The majority of art in this exhibit is fresco and others include alter panels and frontals, other wooden paintings, and architectural pillars. From the design of the pillars one can tell where they originated. Those with palms come from Catalonia, while the others with holes are Andalucían with roots from Constantinople and the eastern Arabic world.
After the fall of the Roman Empire, it was the goal of the church to spread Christianity throughout Europe and later the rest of the world. In order to expand the church and its influence, monasteries and churches were built. In Catalonia this growth was supported by the great economic wealth. The walls of churches were decorated with frescos—a process of mixing pigments into wet plaster directly on the walls. This process allowed for the paintings to maintain their color and freshness as years passed. Unfortunately, as Christianity began to lose its power, so did the popularity of churches and many were torn down. The pieces of walls with frescos on them were auctioned off until the Catalan government stopped this by taking them off the walls and preserving them in the museum. The murals were stripped from the walls through a lengthy process called strappo. Small sections of the frescos are covered in glue and cloth and chipped away from the wall. Then they are glued onto another surface that preserves the shape. All of the pieces in the museum are arranged exactly the way they would have been in the church.
The fresco paintings and alter decorations of the churches all have similar qualities. They are brightly colored with simple symmetrical detailing. The pictures usual show important biblical figures and symbols with very little background detail. Each painting tells a story because the majority of people who attended the churches were peasants who could not read. In a way they were their own form of literature as the viewers were able to read and understand the symbols that told the Christian story, mainly form the Old Testament. Some of these reoccurring shapes, symbols, and stories include the almond shaped mandala that represents the heavenly realm, St. Peter holding the keys to heaven, Mother Mary holding the heavenly crown, or the stoning of St. Steven.
The most interesting aspect of the museum that one might not think about, is that this was a period of history where the artists were not known. Many of the pieces have similar style and it is hard to distinguish one artist from another. In addition, this was a period when craftsman guilds were used for specific projects such as paintings or frescos, which is why they all are created using the same techniques. The only known master craftsman was Master Matthew but he was still viewed as an artisan rather than artist. Nonetheless, these paintings and pieces of art still influence many great individual artists such as Miró, Tàpies, and Picasso. Although these paintings appear simple and duplicable on the surface, one can learn about the technique of mixing and using colors as well ass symmetry and simplicity.
In front of the museum there are fountains that decorate the terraced grounds. The fountains are rarely on during the day but on most Friday and Saturday nights there is a water, light, and music show. When it gets dark, the fountains are illuminated with different colors as they spray water to the rhythm of a song. The spectacle reminded me a bit of the Disneyland light shows, however I thought the setting of this show was more fitting with the beautiful MNAC illuminated above the fountains.
