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The finest and most extensive collection of Romanesque frescoes
from the 10
th and 11
th centuries may be seen at the
National Museum of Catalonia (MNAC) in Barcelona.
Originally, these paintings were applied directly to the
walls, ceilings and pillars of many of the small remote Romanesque churches in
Spain and especially the Pyrenees. Recognizing that they art treasures were
threatened in the modern age – by deterioration or pillage - the government of
Catalonia made a plan to remove these frescoes intact.
Early in the 20
th century, a
small group of Italian restoration experts successfully carried out this
incredibly delicate task. Having been transferred to a stretched cloth, these
frescoes were transferred to an especially designed area of the museum where
they are applied to wooden frames in the shape of the original wall, arch or
pillar of the church from which they were taken.
The shapes of whole chapels and their component parts are
duplicated with their original frescoes on the surface.
Sensing a chapel setting adds even more
to the authenticity of the experience.
These aged frescoes, now seen in one location and protected by the
museum, never will be destroyed by falling or leaking roofs, collapsing walls,
and, as happened to several of them during the Spanish Civil War (1936-39), to
be demolished in battle.
Here they
are preserved as an amazing and accessible treasure from the distant past.
The museum utilizes the space of a building constructed for the International Exposition of 1929, held in Barcelona. It sits on Montjuic, a hill overlooking the city, capital of the province of Catalonia. The name means
Jews' hill. Jewish culture thrived throughout the Iberian Peninsula in an era known as the Golden Age. Spain’s large, influential, and prolific
Jewish community had a rich history until their tragic expulsion by Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492.
A different kind of preservation may be seen down the
hill from the National Museum. The
entire brick exterior of the circular bullfighting arena located in downtown
Barcelona has been transformed for a completely different purpose -- enclosing
a modern shopping mall. The stands
and sand of the arena have been replaced with large bright yellow beams
supporting three floors of glass fronted shops circling the inner side of the
building. The formerly cheering crowds have been replaced by shoppers now entering
to buy jewelry, clothes, cameras ---
goods from around the world. The
former focus of interest here, the bulls and matadors, are left to the imagination.
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| Frame for apse frescoes |
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| Romanesque fresco with widowed donor at bottom right |
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| Museum -- originally built for International Exposition, 1929 |
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| Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya |
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| Former Bullfighting Arena |
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| Interior of Shopping Mall |
