Joan Gallart was a promising artist. He was possibly the most important Catalan painter of the early 18th century. Born in Barcelona in 1670, at 40 years old he enjoyed a great reputation. Author, among other works, of the canvases of the altarpiece of the Glorification of the Virgin in the chapel of the Ànimes del Purgatori of the cathedral, he served as high representative of the city's College of Painters. First, as his clavario and then as vice-consul.
But coinciding with this second charge, Gallart changed his brushes for weapons. Like so many of his fellow citizens, the master defended Barcelona from the siege of Philip V's troops. And in that war he would die in 1714, without knowing that he had worked on what would go down to posterity as one of the greatest jewels of the Catalan baroque. .
A few years before, already in the middle of the War of Succession, Gallart had received a commission in Mataró, about 30 kilometers from the Catalan capital. The Dolors congregation had entrusted him with a large-format work: a canvas measuring approximately 250x150 cm to cover the “niche” (that is, the central niche of the altarpiece) of the Dolors complex: a chapel that was part of the church of Santa Maria (today basilica).
But after Gallart's death, this work was no longer known for certain. In fact, all the decoration of the chapel was put on hold. It would be 15 years before the most acclaimed painter of the moment, Antoni Viladomat, took up the work again.
It was 1729. Mataró was regaining its pulse after the war and a prosperous future was in sight. In this context, the members of the Dolors congregation, many of them wealthy men, decided to resume work on the chapel. Without sparing any expense, they commissioned both the frescoes and oil paintings and the sculptural elements from the Viladomat workshop. And the teacher put all his talent into it. The result is a golden fantasy that today, after a restoration completed in 2016, dazzles its few visitors.
In the dense medieval fabric of Mataró, the Basilica of Santa Maria remains a point of reference today. A building with a thousand years of history whose bells mark the passage of time. Behind its imposing façade, in a style between baroque and neoclassical, a nave opens with one of the largest organs in Catalonia and several chapels on the sides. But dels Dolors is not among them. In reality, its access is through a side street.
On Beata Maria Street, number 3, is the Santa Maria Archive Museum. This was the land that the Dolors congregants acquired in 1694 to build a chapel with a crypt, sacristy and a meeting room. After passing through the doors of the Museu Arxiu, a sober room with a modest staircase at the back. Nothing makes the visitor suspect what awaits him after a few steps...
In a space of just 300 m2, all the characteristics of baroque art are condensed. Ornate shapes, golden elements, chiaroscuro, trompe-l'oeil... There is not a single space for resting the eyes in this complex cataloged by the Generalitat as a cultural asset of national interest, which has been nicknamed – not without excess enthusiasm – as “the Sistine Chapel of the Catalan Baroque.
The decoration has a unitary meaning, based on the one hand on the seven sorrows of Mary and on the other on the fourteen stations of the cross. Both themes are described in the oil paintings on the walls, the presbytery overdoors and the ovals of the altarpiece that surround the Virgin Mary's chamber. Viladomat's work ingeniously adapts to the problem entailed by the various formats of the canvases. And he treats the light with special care, given the darkness of the room.
When you look up, a cherub appears to be holding a hanging lamp. It is one of the chapel's many trompe-l'oeils. The paintings simulate towering columns, endless skies and false lattices. At the back of the chapel, a lattice hides the choir where the musicians played and sang. Currently, the performances are in view of the public, in front of the altarpiece, taking advantage of the excellent acoustics of the venue.
Inside the sacristy, behind what appears to be a closet, there are narrow, steep stairs – also profusely decorated – that lead to the congregation's meeting room. The walls of this room are decorated with paintings of the apostles and evangelists. And the dome on the roof represents the Assumption of Mary.
So... what happened to the painting of Joan Gallart, the master who lost his life in the siege of 1714? The hypothesis has been raised that it is precisely this Assumption, since its dimensions are similar to those of the commission that the master received for the “niche” of the niche. Viladomat could have changed its original location. But it has not been confirmed so far. This issue also has its chiaroscuros.
