Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
coes - in some cases fragmentary, in others extraordinarily complete and alive with colour -
have been placed as they were when in situ.
The first of the two most-striking frescoes, in Sala 7, is a magnificent image of Christ in
Majesty done around 1123. Based on the text of the Apocalypse, we see Christ enthroned
with the world at his feet. He holds a book open with the words
Ego Sum Lux Mundi
(I
am the Light of the World) and is surrounded by the four Evangelists. The images were
taken from the apse of the Església de Sant Climent de Taüll in northwest Catalonia. Also in
Sala 7 are frescoes done around the same time in the nearby Església de Santa Maria de
Taüll. This time the central image taken from the apse is of the Virgin Mary and Christ
Child. These images were not mere decoration but tools of instruction in the basics of Chris-
tian faith for the local population - try to set yourself in the mind of the average medieval
citizen: illiterate, ignorant, fearful and in most cases eking out a subsistence living. These
images transmitted the basic personalities and tenets of the faith and were accepted at face
value by most.
The Gothic Collection
Opposite the Romanesque collection on the ground floor is the museum's Gothic art section.
In these halls you can see Catalan Gothic painting and works from other Spanish and Medi-
terranean regions. Look out especially for the work of Bernat Martorell in Sala 25 and
Jaume Huguet in Sala 26. Among Martorell's works figure images of the martyrdom of St
Vincent and St Llúcia. Huguet's
Consagració de Sant Agustí,
in which St Augustine is
depicted as a bishop, is dazzling in its detail.
The Cambò Bequest & the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection
As the Gothic collection draws to a close, you pass through two separate and equally eclect-
ic private collections. The Cambò Bequest by Francesc Cambó spans the history of
European painting between the 14th century and the beginning of the 19th century, and the
Thyssen-Bornemisza collection presents a selection of European painting and sculpture pro-
duced between the 13th and the 18th centuries on loan to the MNAC by the Museo
Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid. The Thyssen-Bornemisza collection's highlight is Fra An-
gelico's
Madonna of Humility,
whereas the Cambò Bequest holds wonderful works by
masters Veronese, Titian and Canaletto, particularly. Cranach, Titian, El Greco, Rubens and
even Gainsborough also feature, but the collection's finale is examples of work by Francisco
de Goya..
