After eight years of debate, conversations, works and restoration, the Catalan Baroque shines, finally, in all its splendor in the center of Manresa. On Wednesday 21 February, coinciding with the local celebration, the Festa de la Llum, the Museu del Barroc de Catalunya will open its doors, where the Col·legi Sant Ignasi used to be, a baroque building, declared a Cultural Asset of National Interest , which has been completely rehabilitated by municipal architect David Closes. The new center houses the most representative works of Catalan Baroque from the 17th and 18th centuries, mostly from the Manresa Museum and also from 18 Catalan museums, with a total of 182 pieces. In this operation, 7.5 million euros have been invested in an area of more than 9,000 square meters. The first floor has been enabled for the museum and cost 1.9 million.
The mayor of Manresa, Marc Aloy (ERC), was yesterday proud and excited by the result of the process: "We have a first-rate cultural facility, which places Manresa as the epicenter of the Catalan Baroque and which will allow the general public rediscover this important heritage in our country". But it is a race that is not over yet, as the Council has the challenge of finding funding to finish implementing the contents of the other three floors and managing the exit of the historical archive. The presentation included the words of the general director of Cultural Heritage of the Generalitat of Catalonia, Sònia Hernández; the director of the MNAC, Pepe Serra; the director of the Museum of Manresa, Francesc Vilà, and the councilor for Culture, Tània Infante.
In an exhibition space of 675 square meters – which will be doubled in a second stage – there are twelve state-of-the-art audiovisual resources and baroque music. For the first time, the most representative authors of this era, sometimes little recognized, will be able to be seen together, according to the experts.
One of the protagonists is Antoni Viladomat, the most important painter of the first half of the 18th century in Catalonia, by whom you can admire three of the paintings from the series of paintings dedicated to Saint Francis of Assisi that decorated, until the time of Napoleonic invasion, the main cloister of the great convent of Sant Francesc, in Barcelona.
Also noteworthy is Joaquim Juncosa, with the Flagellation of Christ, which is part of the national art collection of the Generalitat de Catalunya; Francesc Tramulles i Roig, one of the most important names in 18th century Catalan painting, with the engraving The Royal Mask of Charles III, from the MNAC; Francesc Pla Duran, known as the Vigata, with the painting Moses destroying the Pharaoh's armies; Pere Cuquet, painter in the tenebrist style, with the Nativity scene that was part of the set of six canvases of the main altarpiece of the Carmel church in Manresa, saved from the destructive raids on the religious heritage during the Civil War.
Other outstanding authors are Josep Bernat Flaugier, with the Nuptial Procession with the statue of Hymeneu, from the MNAC; Andreu Sala and Ramon Amadeu Grau, two of the Catalan Baroque sculptors, with the imposing Saint Warrior or the delicate Saint Anna and the Virgin Mary, from the MNAC fund; Joan Grau, Josep Sunyer and Jaume Padró, from the 17th century Manresa baroque sculpture school... Several works by these local artists – there was a large school in Manresa – can be seen in the collection of the Manresa Museum , the Manresa Headquarters Museum and the Cervera Museum.
The general director of Cultural Heritage highlighted the close collaboration that has existed between the City Council and the Generalitat. "The regional museum takes an important leap and takes on national relevance. That is why we will start the process for it to be declared a Museum of National Interest, a recognition of its role and the importance of the collection". Cultura has invested 60,000 euros in the purchase of twelve pieces for the museum, in the last two years. Francesc Vilà recalled how difficult it had seemed to him to make a dream come true in the first talks in 2015 and thanked "the good coordination with the City Council and the Generalitat so that today it is a reality".
