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A Thousand years of Art in Barcelona
The National Museum of Art of Catalonia
presents an overview of European artistic currents from Romanesque to
the Avant-guard movements of the 19th and 20th centuries. The
department in the Catalan capital is the world’s best museum of
medieval art. Barcelona
- The National Museum of Art of Catalonia (MNAC) offers the
exclusive exploration of a thousand years of European art. The
department in Barcelona shows works from the main artistic currents, in
sequence, starting with Romanesque and moving on through Gothic, Baroque
and Renaissance to conclude with Modernisme, the Catalan Art Nouveau.
Every year about half a million people visit the MNAC and it is expected
that this figure will double over the next two years. Having
been extended, Europe’s leading museum of Romanesque and Gothic art
now offers a superb selection of medieval works with monographic
sections dedicated to individual painters or specific themes. Of
outstanding quality is the collection of Romanesque murals, among the
best of its kind, with paintings duplicated in situ. To showcase the
first Catalan movement to achieve international recognition in Europe, a
selection of works is on display which are intrinsically Catalan, and
date back to the period between the 11th and 13th centuries. These
exceptional collections include masterpieces of Romanesque art such as
the paintings and sculptures of the Vall de Boí (Boí Valley) that
adorned the churches in the valleys of the Pirineo Occidental region.
Among the works on exhibit are the Crist de Mitjaran (Christ of Mitjaran)
the Davallament d’Erill La Vall (The Deposition of Erill La Vall) and
the well-known Figura de Maria (figure of the Holy Virgin). The
MNAC also exhibits numerous Gothic works, of a more austere nature and
with even less ornamentation than works from other regions, forming the
antithesis of the Romanesque current. The collection includes
altarpieces and examples of figurative works by artists such as Jaume
Huguet, Bernat Martorell, Bartolomé Bermejo and el Maestro de
Baltimore. Furthermore,
the MNAC houses some of the most prominent artistic creations of modern
art covering Neoclassicism, Romanticism, Realism, Modernisme (Catalan
Art Nouveau), Noucentisme (cultural movement of political scope), la
generación de 1917 and the Avant-guard. This sample of modern art is
supplemented by the valued contribution of the collection of Catalan art
of Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza. European
painting between the 14th and 19th centuries. As
a prime museum, the MNAC adds part of the Thyssen-Bornemisza collection
to its section on Renaissance and Baroque. The collection includes some
of the most significant works in painting, sculpture and decorative arts
which set off Catalan art against coeval works from other areas. An
outstanding component in this category is the heritage left by Francesc
Cambó, comprising Renaissance and Baroque paintings, covering the
history of painting in Europe from the 14th to the 19th century.
Cambo’s compilation groups artists from this period, such as Rubens,
Tintoretto, El Greco, Juan Enríquez de Herrera y Bassano, amongst
others. The
museum completes its collection of the main movements that make up the
history of European art with works by Velázquez, Goya, Marià Fortuny,
Llimona, Gaudí, Casas, Rusiñol and Fra Angelico. Editor's
note: we're grateful to Barcelona Tourism for providing us with this
article For
further information you may follow these links: The National Museum of Art of Catalonia
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