I often wonder what I am doing painting frescoes in the 21st century”, confesses Josep Minguell, one of the few artists who still practices this ancient technique, as he crosses the threshold of the church of Santa Maria de l’Alba in Tàrrega. “And it is because it allows you to work directly with the earth, water and pigments, without technology involved, just as the first works of art were created, it is the origin of visual communication”, he answers while crossing the ship central part of the baroque temple, under a vault entirely decorated with his own paintings. "It also gives you a lot of freedom and allows you to transform architectural spaces," he continues until he reaches the main altar, where an explosion of light awaits him, the one he himself has projected on the walls to illuminate the church with the golden colors of dawn, that dawn that gives it its name.
Minguell has lived some intense last months. He has received the Creu de Sant Jordi for being "a unique artist, excelling in the art of fresco painting," said the statement from the Generalitat. And, above all, because he has completed a colossal work, carried out in five phases over eighteen years, the frescoes of the main church of Tàrrega that many have baptized as the Catalan Sistine Chapel. "The comparison is exaggerated, but the painted dimensions are similar," he points out before pointing out that Michelangelo had a worse time than him on the scaffolding due to the architectural characteristics of the vault of the Vatican room, much flatter. And another notable difference: "He had a team of artists who helped him, I've been alone."
The set of mural paintings in the church of Santa Maria de l'Alba, which this year celebrates the 350th anniversary of the laying of the first stone, occupies 1,014 square metres. Minguell began his artistic contribution in 2004 painting the transept, continued with the vaults of the central nave and has completed the work with the main altar that evokes the landscape of Tàrrega and the fields of Urgell.
"The light of dawn is almost an abstract composition, made with a network of brushstrokes to provoke a visual vibration", he specifies before pointing out some of the symbols he has included, such as the blue lily, very present in this landscape. "It was even used to consolidate the roofs of dry stone huts with its roots," she reveals. It is not the only wink that has been introduced in the scenes, which stand out for their particular interpretation of biblical and evangelical texts, with a birth that does not show the baby Jesus, an epiphany without the wise men or a creation of Adam that does not ignore the version of the use of red mud. And like other painters such as Josep Obiols in Montserrat, his children appear portrayed on more than one occasion.
Once the project is finished, he has the feeling of “having made a dream come true”, although now he prefers to disassociate himself from the work so that it acquires a life of its own. “Creative motivation made me able to withstand physical exhaustion well,” says Minguell, who, however, has not entirely faced this daunting task alone. Before him, between 1958 and 1965, his father climbed the scaffolding, also a fresco painter Jaume Minguell, who left his mark on the side aisles and in the Dolores and Montserrat chapels.
Right now the centenary of the birth of the first Minguell is celebrated, whose mural work can also be seen in some thirty buildings in Catalonia, such as in the church of Sant Miquel de Mont-roig del Camp. Belonging to the so-called Grup Cogul, made up of avant-garde artists from Lleida, his painting stands out for incorporating contemporary elements into biblical scenes. This is the case, for example, of a Moses who plants a vineyard with a tractor behind him. An exhibition at the Museu Tàrrega Urgell collects his legacy until the end of September.
His son, Josep Minguell, learned from him the fresco technique that his grandfather already practiced. It is a familiar transmission knowledge that has also inherited the last link in the chain, Pau Minguell, an expert in film special effects and who has worked on series such as Chernobyl, Northman or The Young Pope. “I have the knowledge, if I had to do it, I would know how”, he comments with his father, who reminds him that in the church of Tàrrega there are still some chapels to paint.
