A baroque-style 18th-century wooden carving of Saint Eulalia, recently restored, is the starting point of the exhibition that is being hosted by the Diocesan Museum of Barcelona until February 18.
From the observation of this sculpture, by an unknown author, which represents the Barcelona martyr and saint with the cross in the shape of a cross, an attribute of her martyrdom, contemporary artists Luca Freschi and Jorge Egea have made their particular reinterpretation of the saint , co-patron of Barcelona, born at the end of the 3rd century AD. c.
According to Christian tradition, she suffered the period of persecution of Christians by Emperor Diocletian and at the age of 13 she was sentenced to thirteen martyrdoms, as many as she was years old, for not wanting to renounce the Christian faith.
The two artists, who coincided a decade ago in another exhibition focused on the martyrdoms of Saint Eulalia, have each made a new sculpture for the occasion. “They are two very symbolic images and at the same time contemporary, unlike his first representations of the saint that had a more figurative dimension, focused on the torments that she suffered,” explains Giovanni Gardini, curator of the exhibition.
The exhibition establishes, according to the artists, “a dialogue” between the baroque polychrome wood carving and two of the works created specifically, of the six that make up the exhibition. Hence, the title of the exhibition Dialoghi paralleli. Saint Eulalia Noble Gema.
The Italian Luca Freschi, who collaborates with important Italian and European galleries, has created a pure white glazed ceramic bust, emerging from a crown of roses. The piece includes some objects reminiscent of modern votive offerings and some nails, alluding to martyrdom. The curator explains that two typical elements of Freschi's iconographic vocabulary also appear, the pencil and a cassette tape.
“They can be interpreted as a reference to the stories of Barcelona's heroine transmitted by ancient manuscripts and the whispering lips of the faithful of each time,” he explains in the exhibition catalogue. More realistic is another of the pieces exhibited in the exhibition, made in 2013, with a Saint Eulàlia wounded by martyrdoms.
For his part, Jorge Egea, currently full professor at La Salle-Universitat Ramon Llull and president of the Catalan Institute for Research in Sculpture (ICRE), has created for the occasion a polychrome golden terracotta piece centered on the cross of San Andrés , one of the main iconographic attributes of the saint.
In her work dedicated to the Christian martyr there is also a sculpture, present in the exhibition, from which a dove emerges, another of the symbols with which she is identified. Tradition says that she died on the cross and her soul flew in the form of a white dove that came out of her mouth.
Beyond this sculptural facet, the exhibition also brings together publications and other documents, donated by a private collection, and which highlight the deep-rooted devotion to Saint Eulalia and the literature created around the martyr and her life.
After passing through the Catalan capital, the exhibition could be seen in Italy with new works. The commissioner contemplates that one of the first destinations will be the city of Faenza.
