Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Domènech i Montaner
Although overshadowed by Gaudí, Lluís Domènech i Montaner (1849-1923) was one
of the great masters of Modernisme. He was a widely travelled man of prodigious intel-
lect, with knowledge in everything from mineralogy to medieval heraldry, and he was
an architectural professor, a prolific writer and a nationalist politician. The question of
Catalan identity and how to create a national architecture consumed Domènech i
Montaner, who designed more than a dozen large-scale works in his lifetime.
The exuberant, steel-framed Palau de la Música Catalana is one of his masterpieces.
Adorning the facade are elaborate Gothic-style windows, floral designs (Domènech i
Montaner also studied botany) and sculptures depicting characters from Catalan folk-
lore and the music world as well as everyday citizens of Barcelona. Inside, the hall
leaves visitors dazzled with delicate floral-covered colonnades, radiant stained-glass
walls and ceiling, and a rolling, sculpture-packed proscenium referencing the epics of
musical lore.
His other great masterpiece is the Hospital de la Santa Creu i de Sant Pau, with
sparkling mosaics on the facade and a stained-glass skylight which fills the vestibule
with golden light (like Matisse, Domènech i Montaner believed in the therapeutic
powers of colour).
 
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