Photos of the Catalan Romanesque Fresco Painting Art

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Photos of the Catalan Romanesque Fresco Painting Art from the MNAC ( National Museum of Catalan Art). Photos by photographer Paul E Williams.  (TIP – use the icons below the slideshow for thumbnail photos and info)

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Photos of the Catalan Romanesque Fresco Painting from the MNAC

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Photos of Romanesque Catalan Fresco Paintings, National Museum of Catalan Art (MNAC) Barcelona

MNAC Catalan Romanesque Fresco Painting

The collection of Catalan Romanesque Fresco art housed at the MNAC (Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya ) cover the 11th and 12th. It is one of the most important Medieval Middle ages art collections in the world.

Catalan Romanesque Fresco Painting

Romanesque Fresco Paintings are rare due to their fragile nature. In Western Europe after the decline of the Roman Empire, there was a period of several hundred years when nearly no major building or art works were produced. The exceptions are the production of illuminated manuscripts in the monasteries that survived in Ireland.

This created a large hole in the art history of wester Europe. By the 10th century the Roman Catholic church had rebuilt enough to be able to rebuild its churches and monasteries and decorate the interiors with ecclesiastic art.

Byzantine Art Influences

As the tradition of fresco painting had been lost or at least severally reduced, the main reference for how church art should look came from Byzantine Roman Art. The Eastern Byzantine Romans had not experienced a decline in their civilisation so had developed a sophisticated style of architecture and art.

With crusaders returning from the Byzantine Empire having seen the sumptuous art of Byzantine churches, it was only natural that this style should become the basis of western Christian art of the period.

Medieval Catalan Spain

In the 11th and 12th centuries Catalan Spain had only just pushed out the Muslims who had ruled there for 400 years. New churches were built and decorated inside with religious art. The skills of Byzantine Mosaic art were beyond western artisans of the time so they tended have fresco paintings. Byzantine mosaics of this era can be found in the big Romanesque Cathedrals such as St Mark’s in Venice, but were not common in small churches.

MNAC Romanesque Church Frescos

The MNAC Romanesque frescoes come from the small churches of the Pyrenees. The collection houses whole Apse and wall paintings rescued from remote churches before they were completely destroyed or sold to collectors.

The 11th century Catalan mural fresco painting, especially from Taull has a tendency to abstraction and geometry and the liking of intense colours. Generally the lack of skill brought about a simplification of the style avoiding difficult naturalistic depictions.

At the end of the twelfth century medieval art received a new and powerful wave of Byzantine influence. European courts enthusiastically welcomed this new influx from the East. This can be explained by the intensification of contacts between the West and the Byzantine Empire at the time of the Crusades.

Romanesque art created a virtuous naturalism during the Byzantine Komnenoi dynasty. This combined a classical appearance depicting sophistication and ornament, typical of the refined culture of Constantinople.

Influence on Catalan Art

The Catalan Crown of Aragon was a strong player in the European political game & in 12th century art. Catalan ports linked directly to new Byzantine developments.

The Romanesque frescoes follow popular themes of the Middle ages. Christ Pantocrator or In Majesty is a popular icon based on the Byzantine Roman iconography. The image is known as a Theophany, in which Christ is revealed as God.

He is surrounded by a vertical eye shaped aureola called a mandorla which also originated from Byzantine art. The Theophany is usually surrounded by a Tetramorph with the four symbols of the Evangelists – Mathew depicted as a man, Mark as a lion, Luke as a Bull and John as an Eagle.

The MNAC Romanesque Frescoes are a wonderful record of emerging Medieval Christian art.