Some of the most beautiful Romanesque art was created in Catalonia (in northeast Spain), and much of it can be seen today in the National Museum of Catalan Art located in Barcelona.
c. 1000 - 1200
videos + essays
Plaque with the Journey to Emmaus and Noli Me Tangere
The power that this sculpture has is precisely in the fact that it's not always concerned with naturalism and it's really concerned with telling a story.
Conservation: Cast of the Pórtico de la Gloria
In 1866, the Victoria & Albert Museum commissioned an Italian plaster maker to journey to Spain to make a copy of a monument of Romanesque art. See how the museum takes care of it more than 150 years later.
Virgin and Child in Majesty
A serene Mary offers her draped lap as a throne for Christ. Her outsized hands direct the viewer to the divine.
“Throne of Wisdom” sculptures
These statues of the Virgin and Child often held relics. Designed to be mobile, they starred in parades and plays.
Virgin from Ger
Delicate and brightly colored, this statue from Spain combines elegance with solidity, the human with the divine.
Circle of the Master of Pedret, The Wise and Foolish Virgins
These frescoes covered the thick walls of a Romanesque church. Once isolated in the Pyrenees, they adorn a museum.
Historiated capitals, Church of Sant Miquel, Camarasa
Romanesque sculptors adorned the tops of columns with bible stories. These scenes are bold, emotional, and direct.
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