Category: Collection

A luxurious 16th-century bride’s chest in the Museu Nacional

Daniel Vilarrúbias The chest was perhaps the container par excellence in Catalonia in the early modern period, since the type appears in the mid 15th century, coexisting with iron-bound or heavier-looking chests, and it disappears in the middle of the 18th century, when the wardrobe became widespread and the chest of drawers suddenly appeared, dressing…

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Author: Z_ Guest blogger

Photography was no exception. Photographers in the collection of the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya

Magda Juandó As is well known, the famous question of the north American historian Linda Nochlin “Why have there been no great women artists?“(1971) and her questioning of preconceived concepts by traditional historiography, paved the way for a slow recognition of women artists in general and women photographers in particular. If we focus on the…

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Author: Magda Juandó

The secrets of the third side of the coin

canto moneda

Albert Estrada-Rius Talking about both sides of the coin is a common phrase that forgets that there is a third with its own name: the edge. This could be defined as the outer and lateral contour that delimits and surrounds the two sides – front and back – of a coin or a medal. This…

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Author: Albert Estrada-Rius

A bearded woman crucified: the Saint Wilgefortis of Andreu Sala

Santa Lliberada MNAC

Joan Yeguas          One of the sculptures of the Museu Nacional which catches the attention of the public is an image nailed to the cross wearing a tunic and with a beard. Despite this description, this is not a Christ in Majesty crucified. The work was restored by the Area of Restoration and Preventive Conservation, and…

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Author: Joan Yeguas

Gaspar Homar, amateur photographer

Gaspar Homar fotografia

Mariàngels Fondevila As a good Modernista, following in the footsteps of William Morris, Gaspar Homar was a many-faceted artist; he made furniture, metal objects, mosaics, textiles, marquetry, drawings, he was an antiques dealer and also an amateur photographer. This is confirmed by the recent admission to the Museu Nacional of a collection comprising nearly 68…

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Author: Mariàngels Fondevila

The Master of the Prodigal Son in the storerooms of the Museu Nacional, an old Flemish altarpiece

Ana Diéguez-Rodríguez Some years ago I had the opportunity to visit the art storerooms of the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya on Montjuïc. I was accompanying the conservator of the museum’s Renaissance and Baroque Department, Joan Yeguas, and the group of students from the University of Lleida on the Master’s degree course in the cataloguing…

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Author: Z_ Guest blogger

Fortuny’s Carmen Bastián: problems with its reception and interpretation

Fortuny’s Carmen Bastián

Francesc Quílez Only on very few occasions during his career as an artist did Fortuny develop the theme of the female nude. It is a genre towards which his attitude was always preventive and for which he felt no special predilection, except for two highly iconic productions that over time have become two of his…

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Author: Francesc Quílez

Visiting the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, for real!

visita al MNAC

Céline Mülich Visiting museums in Barcelona and writing about them is my daily business, an ordinary activity that lately has been converted into something really special. With the museums being closed for weeks, we had to get back to virtual experiences, such as consulting the web, online collections, podcasts, videos, social media or virtual visits…

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Author: Z_ Guest blogger

Artists Living and Creating at Home: Days of Confinement

Sandra Figueras We have now spent more than 50 days confined in our homes by the Covid-19 health crisis, a new scenario and a reality that we are gradually getting used to. The boundaries of what we thought was possible have expanded and at the same time our everyday world has grown smaller, cut off…

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Author: Sandra Figueras

Ways of payment in times of crisis, some reflections

Formes de pagament

Maria Clua These days we are living in a state of emergency or crisis that obliges us to adopt new measures of control and safety at all levels.  We weren’t used to living confined within the walls of our homes, working from home, going out to the street only for minimum tasks, and protecting ourselves…

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Author: Maria Clua