Culture: A Visit @ Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, Barcelona

(Drivebycuriosity) - Traveler, if you come to Barcelona, don´t miss the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya.  The national museum of Catalan visual art offers a foray to different epochs of art with a focal point of medieval paintings (museunacional). According to Wikipedia the museum is especially notable for its outstanding collection of romanesque church paintings, and for Catalan art and design from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, includin modernisme  and noucentisme (wikipedia).

I enjoyed the huge spectrum of styles which give an impression of the evolution of European art. Visiting the museum was like taking an academic course in art history. I didn`t know that medieval & gothic art works are so colorful and beautiful. Some of the exhibited paintings and frescoes (murals) are quite stunning.

You can see here a collection of my favorites.

Some of the many centuries old art works, including the altar pieces, are still stunning. Above this paragraph (top) you can see a detail from an altarpiece of Saint Jerome, Saint Martin and Saint Sebastian by Jaume Ferre. Below are details from other altars.

The first image above (top) is called "Saint Michael Weighing Souls" by Juan de la Abadía (el Vell). This painting and the pictures below that remind me a bit of the colorful Hipie culture of the 1960s.

The first image above this paragraph is named "The Odalisque" by Marià Fortuny (Rome 1861)







                                                       The Retable Of Love

The flute player is called "Pompeian Child" by Arcadi Mas i Fondevila (Rome 1879)

I indulged in the painting "The Retable of Love" by Julio Romero de Torres (1910), apperently a parody of the medevian altars.

Above " Jeroglifics/Hieroglyphics" by Antoni Tàpies, a son of Barcelona  (1994, mixed procedure on wood).

The second painting above this paragrah is called "Female Nude" by Ramon Casas (Barcelona 1894)

Enjoy!