Before the 30-year-old Antoni Gaudí designed the Nativity Facade of the Sagrada Família, he underwent a strict twenty-day fast that left him emaciated. The full name of the Basilica is the Expiatory Temple of the Holy Family. Its foundation stone was laid on 19 March 1882, conceived as “a way of repairing the sins of mankind.” (1) This grand basilica stood as Gaudí’s greatest and final masterpiece, upon which he diligently worked until his tragic death at the age of 73, resulting from being struck by a tram. His devotion to his craft was so profound that “God’s Architect,” as he was then known, had been neglecting his personal appearance. Mistaken for a beggar due to his disheveled state, he received scant assistance in the hospital and passed away just two days later. Today, in our hurried consumption of art, we often fail to mirror the fervor and devotion displayed by the artists themselves.

People flock here in thousands and are all struck by the bizarre intensity and profusion of Sagrada Família:

“Geometrical symbols, animals and plants, figures in relief or in sculpture – all of these form part of a vertiginous panorama that passes before the astonished gaze of anyone who approaches this complete edifice…” (2)

While trying to take in as much as I can, I was pondering on the chief difference between the Protestant and the Catholic approach to sacral art. In summary, Catholic churches generally incorporate a wide array of icons, religious symbols, and ornate decorations to create a visually rich and spiritually meaningful environment. In contrast, Evangelical (Protestant) churches tend to have a simpler aesthetic, often with minimal use of icons and symbols, placing more emphasis on the word of the scripture and its teachings. Martin Luther sought to ban “visually seductive” and “emotionally charged” images from the House of God. (3) As the fervor of Reformation wreaked havoc in Europe, image-breakers (iconoclasts) “burned, toppled, beheaded and hanged” religious artwork with utter scorn and delight. (4) By doing that, the followers of Luther rejected the suffering flesh of Christ and martyrs. Not only were the images rejected, also the music was treated with suspicion. As a result, faith became more spiritual but less incarnate:

“In essence … the Word is made Flesh – becomes reversed and the Flesh is made Word.” (5)

Gaudí, in stark contrast, takes the Catholic love of the image to the extreme. The Modernist style, (known as Art Nouveau in France and Sezession in Austria) which he represented, was already the antithesis of austerity, but he elevated it to an unprecedented level.

The main source of inspiration for the representatives of the Modernist movement was nature:

“[They took] ideas from plants (flowers and shoots), animals (insects and birds) and the waves of the ocean. … The predominant idea was that of eternal movement, brevity, in relation to … beauty and death. Floral and plant decorations signifying the ephemeral or the fertile were frequently used in buildings and objects.” (6)

Gaudí understood true originality as “getting close to the origin,” to the source of creation. He strove to imitate forms found in nature, for example the hexagon, the spiral and many others. He thus elucidated the motto of his art:

“The great open book one must strive to read is the book of nature; all the other books are extracted from it and contain man’s erroneous interpretations.” (7)

He called his architecture organic; I would describe it as embodied. His architectural projects appear to be alive and moving. I am reminded of Casa Battló, a renowned building located in the heart of Barcelona. Casa Batlló’s facade is the most famous aspect of the building. It is adorned with a mosaic of colorful ceramic tiles and undulating forms resembling scales. The facade is “suggestive of an aquatic landscape like that of a river embedded with stones worn away by water.” (8) The balconies resemble masks or skulls, and the roof depicts the back of a dragon, covered in iridescent tiles that change color as the sunlight hits them. As usually in Gaudí’s work, organic elements are permeated with myth and fantasy.

In his customary fashion, Gaudí transcended the sources of his inspiration, such as Modernism and Gothic architecture, ingeniously reinterpreting and creatively reshaping and enhancing them within his work. He painstakingly imitated the geometry found in nature: the spiral, the hexagon, the undulating forms of the water, the tree trunk. He envisioned the interior of Sagrada Família as the forest of columns. The Sagrada Família’s roof, adorned with skylights softly filtering daylight, evokes the intricate foliage of a forest canopy. His signature column “generated a double helicoidal movement, the natural movement of growth in plants.” (9)

La Sagrada Família is to this day unfinished: it remains a work in progress. Gaudí was aware that such a grand project must be a collective effort of many generations. The extraordinary Nativity Facade was fully designed by Gaudí and finished in his lifetime. The sculptures illustrating the birth and infancy of Jesus are surrounded by the local flora and fauna depicted in stone. To be exact, thirty-one botanical species and sixty-eight different types of animals are depicted. The gargoyles were given the shape of Catalonian amphibians and reptiles. The pinnacles of the apse reproduce enlarged flower buds. (10)

Gaudí had worthy successors. Although a lot of the master’s original designs got lost in the chaos of the Spanish Civil War, his legacy was continued by the likes of Josep Maria Subirachs, who designed the Passion Facade. Admittedly, it stands in stark contrast to the profuse Nativity Facade, yet its stark geometry and bone-like aesthetic was extremely striking to me.

But what I found truly stunning were the doors to the Nativity Facade, which were designed by a Japanese sculptor Etsuro Sotoo. Sotoo was originally drawn to Barcelona and the works of Gaudí in the late 1970s. He embraced Gaudí’s unique style and vision, eventually converting to Catholicism and dedicating himself entirely to following in Gaudí ‘s footsteps. I believe the doors he designed are a true expression of Gaudí ‘s spirit. The doors, decorated with plants, insects and small animals, were inaugurated in 2015. During my visit this year, I found myself captivated by them; they made me think of a door to a secret garden.

In the age of overtourism, it is an arduous task to immerse yourself into the beauty of famous landmarks. A brilliant entry point to acquaint oneself with the work of Antoni Gaudí is a 1984 documentary directed by Hiroshi Teshigara, who chose to show Gaudí’s masterpieces with sublime music and sparing commentary.

Notes:

(1) Artigas, Isabel. Gaudí: Complete Works. 2007. Taschen.

(2) Sola-Morales, Ignasi de. Gaudi. Rizzoli. 1984. New York.

(3)Koerner, Joseph Leo. The Reformation of the Image. University of Chicago Press, 2004.

(4) Ibid.

(5) McGilchrist, Ian. The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World. Yale University Press, 2012.

(6) Artigas, Isabel. Gaudí: Complete Works. 2007. Taschen.

(7) Angles, Jordi Cusso. Gaudí’s Sagrada Familia: A Monument to Nature. Milenio Publicaciones S.L., 2010.

(8) Artigas, Isabel. Gaudí: Complete Works. 2007. Taschen.

(9) Angles, Jordi Cusso. Gaudí’s Sagrada Familia: A Monument to Nature. Milenio Publicaciones S.L., 2010.

(10) Ibid.