THE
COLLECTION
Walk through the museum rooms
The story of the museum revolves around three key themes on each of the three floors: the history of the Requesens family in Molins de Rei, the principal characteristics of Renaissance art, and everyday life in the 16th century.
Anon. Flemish school
Annunciation, last quarter of the 15th century, oil on wood
Reserve of the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, 2023
MNAC 24225
© Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, Barcelona 2024
This panel painting, of Flemish school, depicts the Annunciation unfolding inside a room with large windows. The young woman, who had been reading moments before, receives the surprising and unexpected visit of the angel Gabriel, who announces the good news of her pregnancy, to which she responds with a gesture of serene acceptance, her hand resting on her chest. The painting was likely part of a set with the following work, of identical size, format, and style.
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Anon. Flemish school
The Visitation, last quarter of the 15th century, oil on wood
Reserve of the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, 2023
MNAC 24266
© Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, Barcelona 2024
One of the episodes immediately following the Annunciation is the Visitation. When the young Mary, aware of the news of her pregnancy, went to visit her cousin Elizabeth, who was also miraculously expecting a child. The meeting of the two women in an open space in the village foreshadows, in a way, the encounter between Jesus and his cousin, John the Baptist. Mary stayed with her cousin for three months, until the birth of her son.
Mestre de Pau i Bernabeu
Epiphany, between 1530-1540, oil on wood
Reserve of the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, 2023
MNAC 64104
© Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, Barcelona 2024
Strictly speaking, from an etymological point of view, an epiphany is a manifestation; the visualisation of a presence, of a truth of a higher order. According to the New Testament, the birth of Jesus and the subsequent arrival of three kings or wise men from the East to visit him signified the recognition of the birth of the messiah. The composition of the scene is rich and complex, with an abundance of classicist architectural elements, many of which are in ruins. The image of God in flight, very similar to the same figure painted in a very similar position by Michelangelo on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome, is significant.
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Anon. (follower of Hans Memling)
Mare de Déu de la Llet, around 1500, oil and gilding on wood
Reserve of the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, 2023
MNAC 64100
© Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, Barcelona 2024
This type of depiction of the Virgin Mary breastfeeding her child was very popular in the late Gothic period and also during the Renaissance. However, following the Council of Trent in 1563, this representation of the Virgin was greatly restricted for reasons of modesty, so as not to show her exposed breast.
Anonymous
Madonna and Child («Madonna di Trapani»),
second half of the 16th century, polychromed wood
Reserve of the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, 2023
MNAC 5229
© Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, Barcelona 2024
Trapani is a Sicilian city that became especially famous for the spread of a 14th-century image of the Virgin and Child, which eventually developed its own iconography. In this case, it is a polychrome wooden work, easily recognizable, among other things, by the two figures, the affectionate relationship between them, and also by the two characteristic parallel folds that the tunic forms on one side.
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Circle of Luis de Morales (El Divino)
Christ with the Cross, between 1560-1565, oil on wood
Reserve of the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, 2023
Reial Acadèmia Catalana de Belles Arts de Sant Jordi collection,
deposited in the Museus de Barcelona in 1906
MNAC 11549
© Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, Barcelona 2024
Luis de Morales was a Spanish painter born in Badajoz. In his work, with its elongated figures and delicate modulations of colour and shadow, he used the sfumato technique pioneered by Leonardo da Vinci that was very popular. Due to this great success and the religious subject matter of his works, he became known during his lifetime as ‘El Divino Morales’.
Anon. Valencia
Descent from the Cross, between 1450-160, oil on wood
Reserve of the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, 2023
MNAC 64093
© Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, Barcelona 2024
This painting is extremely interesting from a stylistic point of view. The figures are distributed within the pictorial space in a very well thought-out manner, taking advantage of the axis of symmetry generated by the cross and the two ladders, at the precise moment when Jesus' body is lowered. The meticulous rendering of detail and the opening onto a background showing a landscape that fades away into the horizon, as well as the clothing, the faces of the figures and the drama with which some of them are portrayed, are a good example of the great pictorial quality of this painting.
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Anon. Catalonia
Scourging of Christ, 1585, oil on wood
Reserve of the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, 2023
MNAC 37754
© Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, Barcelona 2024
The unusual horizontal format of this panel painting is explained by the fact that it originally served to decorate the front of an altar. The scene of the Flagellation of Christ takes place inside a space that is simple yet classical in style, dominated by the metallic tones of some garments and by the treatment of the figures and anatomies, which vary in quality. It comes from the Barcelona church of Santa Maria del Pi, specifically from the Chapel of Saint Michael, which belonged to the city’s former Guild of Shopkeepers. Its motto, along with the date, appears on the sides of the piece.
Anon. Catalonia
Scales for nuts and dried fruit, wood and metal, 1572
Barcelona History Museum
MHCB 2933
Very similar to those that appear in the painting of the Scourging of Christ, these quarteres [scales] are used for measuring quantities of nuts and dried fruit to be bought or sold. Quarteres were very common at the time, and were subject to strict legislation to prevent malpractice. The coat of arms of the city of Barcelona can be clearly seen, attesting to its official status.
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Anon. Aragon
Triptych, Lamentation over the Dead Christ, entre 1510-1550, oli i daurat sobre fusta
Reserve of the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, 2023
MNAC 64106
© Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, Barcelona 2024
This small triptych was likely intended for private use. When the doors are closed, a scene painted in grisaille can be seen on the outside: the Expulsion from Paradise. It is noteworthy that this composition literally copies a print of the same subject by Albrecht Dürer, one of the great artists of the Renaissance. In this regard, it is important to highlight the role that prints played in the circulation and dissemination of Renaissance models throughout Europe in general and in Catalonia in particular.
Albrecht Dürer
The Virgin venerated by angels and saints, c. 1505, woodcut
Museu de Lleida – Antoni Gelonch Deposit
GE-200
This work belongs to a series of sixteen engravings dedicated to the life of the Virgin and produced between 1500 and 1511. Here, Dürer depicts the Virgin Mary with the Christ Child, surrounded by saints and angels who adore her, in a clear allusion to the importance of her figure. This was a delicate subject, frequently discussed in the disputes between Catholics and Protestants in the sixteenth century. The scene takes place within a complex classical-style architectural setting, which frames and organizes the space through a skilful use of linear perspective, one of the great innovations of Renaissance painting. In the foreground, an illusionistic extension of this space contains an anecdotal arrangement of various figures and elements. It is precisely in this area that the artist discreetly places, between the legs of a putto, the famous “AD” monogram with which he signed his works.
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Albrecht Dürer
Saint Bartholomew, 1523, etching
Museu de Lleida – Antoni Gelonch Deposit
GE-832
Albrecht Dürer was the son of a goldsmith, yet he became one of the most important European artists of his time. In this engraving, which formed part of a series devoted to the apostles, Dürer depicts Saint Bartholomew as the sole protagonist of the scene, shown with his characteristic attributes. The apostle holds a knife in his left hand, a symbol of his martyrdom, while in his right hand he holds a book, alluding to his evangelising role. With a masterful command of the etching technique, the artist succeeds in portraying Saint Bartholomew with great monumentality within a limited space, rendering the textures of the garments, the aged face and hair, and even the trunk of the tree in the background, through a highly skilful use of shading. The print is signed and dated with the characteristic “AD” monogram, clearly visible within a cartouche.
Melchior Meyer
Resurrection of Christ, 1577, engraving
Museu de Lleida – Antoni Gelonch Deposit
GE-722
Melchior Meyer was a German engraver known for his talent in the depiction of biblical scenes with great quality and dramatic intensity. In this engraving, Meyer represents Christ’s triumph over death in a highly dynamic and spectacular manner. The majestic figure of Jesus, seated upon a large cloud, rises from the tomb from which he has just been resurrected, with a powerful halo of light behind him that reinforces the divinity of the moment. Meanwhile, in the lower third, four soldiers react differently to the miracle: one protects himself from the sudden vision by covering himself with his shield in one hand while gripping a sword tightly with the other; two others observe the scene from the ground in a state of tension, ready to defend themselves; and finally, a fourth soldier sleeps peacefully, unaware of everything taking place around him. The careful treatment of the soldiers’ bodies, their highly studied poses, and the realism of the anatomy reveal a clear Mannerist influence and anticipate the dynamism of Baroque compositions.
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Adriaen Collaert
Jesus before Annas, 1587, engraving
Museu de Lleida – Antoni Gelonch Deposit
GE-729
A Flemish draughtsman and printmaker, Adriaen Collaert developed a long career in the city of Antwerp, where he stood out for the quality of his scientific illustrations. Nevertheless, a large part of his artistic production focused on religious subjects, as in the case of this work. In this engraving, Collaert depicts the scene of Jesus’ appearance, impassive, before the priest Annas, with a skilful command of points of light. This episode, narrated in the Gospel of Saint John, was traditionally associated with the shame and injustice suffered by the Son of God shortly before his trial before Caiaphas. The composition is dominated by the figure of Jesus at the very centre of the scene, dramatically illuminating it through his presence at the very moment before being struck by one of the soldiers. A large number of figures are distributed throughout the space: notable among them are a dwarf at the left holding a large lit lantern, a group of four people watching the hearing from a gallery, and other figures arriving through a strongly illuminated corridor carrying burning torches.
