Catalan Gothic is an artistic style, with particular characteristics in the field of

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

. It occurred under the

Crown of Aragon The Crown of Aragon ( , ) an, Corona d'Aragón ; ca, Corona d'Aragó, , , ; es, Corona de Aragón ; la, Corona Aragonum . was a composite monarchy ruled by one king, originated by the dynastic union of the Kingdom of Aragon and the County of ...

between the 13th and 15th centuries, which places it at the end of the European Gothic period and at the beginning of the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

. The term ''Catalan Gothic'' is confined to

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

and its area of influence (

Girona Girona (officially and in Catalan , Spanish: ''Gerona'' ) is a city in northern Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 103,369 in 2020. Girona is the capital ...

, Northern Catalonia, Balearic Islands, etc.), which has its own characteristics. Despite its name, Catalan Gothic differs from the Gothic styles from other parts of Europe. In architecture, it does not seek excessive height, or have highlights in its

flying buttresses The flying buttress (''arc-boutant'', arch buttress) is a specific form of buttress composed of an arch that extends from the upper portion of a wall to a pier of great mass, in order to convey lateral forces to the ground that are necessary to pu ...

, and its decoration is sober.

Historical context

The style began because of the wealth generated by the expansion of the

Counts of Barcelona The Count of Barcelona ( ca, Comte de Barcelona, es, Conde de Barcelona, french: Comte de Barcelone, ) was the ruler of the County of Barcelona and also, by extension and according with the usages and Catalan constitutions, of the Principality ...

and Crown of Aragon, first to the

Languedoc The Province of Languedoc (; , ; oc, Lengadòc ) is a former province of France. Most of its territory is now contained in the modern-day region of Occitanie in Southern France. Its capital city was Toulouse. It had an area of approximately ...

and Balearic islands, then across the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

, the Kingdom of Naples and the

Duchy of Athens The Duchy of Athens (Greek: Δουκᾶτον Ἀθηνῶν, ''Doukaton Athinon''; Catalan: ''Ducat d'Atenes'') was one of the Crusader states set up in Greece after the conquest of the Byzantine Empire during the Fourth Crusade as part of th ...

. This resulted in a demand for an updating of existing Romanesque buildings and new public buildings as well as a demand for mansions for the newly enriched. The style reached its climax in the 15th century. After the union of the Crowns of Castile and Aragon, and the discovery of the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

became Spain's major port, to the detriment of Barcelona.

Artistic context

The terms "Gothic style" and "Gothic city" are used in relation to the local time frame. It is not to be confused with

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

or other Gothic styles, though the latest available technologies were always employed. There are many differences in, for example, the arch, rose window and struts. In church architecture, Catalan Gothic does not strive for great heights, but tends to balance dimensions of width with height, so there are no long sloping roofs so characteristic of central and northern Europe, and its

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral ( ...

es are as tall as the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

s. Buildings also have fewer windows because the Mediterranean light is much stronger than the rest of Europe. Sparsely decorated, they have no figurative motifs on their pillars and no notable intricacy in their vaults. The main features of Catalan Gothic, compared with the international Gothic, are: In

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable ...

and

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

the peculiarities of Catalan Gothic are not as marked and as distinctive as either the Italian or Flemish styles. Nevertheless, there are several notable painters, including Ferrer Bassa,

Pere Serra Pere Serra was a painter in Gothic-Italian style, who was active in Catalonia in 1357–1406. He was born into a family of painters, including his brothers Jaume, Francesc and Joan. Like most of the Catalan painters of the period, he was ...

Lluís Borrassà Lluís Borrassà (c.1360, Girona? - c.1426, Barcelona?) was a Catalan painter. He was employed by the Crown of Aragon and is widely considered to have introduced the International Gothic painting style into the Principality of Catalonia. Life ...

Bernat Martorell Bernat Martorell (died 1452 in Barcelona) was the leading painter of Barcelona, in modern-day Spain. He is considered to be the most important artist of the International Gothic style in Catalonia. Martorell painted retable panels and Miniature ( ...

, Lluís Dalmau and Jaume Huguet.

Typology

Church

Sacred architecture Sacral architecture (also known as sacred architecture or religious architecture) is a religious architectural practice concerned with the design and construction of places of worship or sacred or intentional space, such as churches, mosques, stu ...

tends to unify space, which is achieved through two methods: either with slender and thin columns spaced far enough apart to avoid interruption the view of the side aisles, which are often the same height as the nave, or constructing with a single nave of much wider

span Span may refer to: Science, technology and engineering * Span (unit), the width of a human hand * Span (engineering), a section between two intermediate supports * Wingspan, the distance between the wingtips of a bird or aircraft * Sorbitan ester ...

. The towers, usually one or two, stand out as smooth polygonal prisms (six sides, eight sides), and there are no

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building wi ...

s, though churches based on the

Templar , colors = White mantle with a red cross , colors_label = Attire , march = , mascot = Two knights riding a single horse , equipment ...

design, are planned as

Greek cross The Christian cross, with or without a figure of Christ included, is the main religious symbol of Christianity. A cross with a figure of Christ affixed to it is termed a ''crucifix'' and the figure is often referred to as the ''corpus'' (La ...

es. The abutments have two effects in addition to their role in bracing the walls. On the drawing the chapels can be distinguished, and the elevation of the building is continuous and visually smooth on the outside. When these appear on the main facade (usually the West front), they create a rectangle that frames the doorway and perhaps a rose window. Palau Requesens-1

Palace

The palace, with a larger street wall than other dwellings, is typical of 15th-century bourgeois spaces, the best examples of which are in the Carrer de Montcada in Barcelona's Ribera district. The building is accessed through a portal and is characterised by a courtyard, which is the centre of the building and contains the main staircase that is either open or half closed. On the ground floor are the facilities for doing business and there may be an office on a mezzanine. The first floor is reserved for living, with main hall, richly decorated stretching along the facade, sometimes occupying it entirely. The following storey contains service rooms and secondary units. Some palaces have small towers for watching over the city rooftops.

Llotja

During the 15th century the Catalan Gothic was used in civil architecture, best exemplified in the Llotja of Barcelona, built between 1380 and 1392. This

llotja Llotja (, plural ); in an, loncha; in es, lonja; is a Catalan term for important buildings used for commercial purpose during the Middle Ages and Early Modern Ages. Many were used during the Medieval Ages for fishing and livestock marke ...

consisted of three naves separated by ogival arches resting on columns with beaded and flat roofs built in wood. Many features of the Llotja of Barcelona were replaced in the 18th century by a

Neoclassical style Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing sty ...

Examples

Examples of this type of architecture are the

Cathedral of Barcelona The Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia ( ca, Catedral de la Santa Creu i Santa Eulàlia), also known as Barcelona Cathedral, is the Gothic cathedral and seat of the Archbishop of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The cathedral was cons ...

, begun in 1298 or the

Cathedral of Girona Girona Cathedral, also known as the Cathedral of Saint Mary of Girona (in Catalan language, Catalan: ''Catedral de Santa Maria de Girona'' or simply ''Catedral de Girona''), is a Catholic Church, Roman Catholic church architecture, church loca ...

, started in 1312, which has three naves leading to the crossing where it continues as a single width. Its technical difficulties had to be addressed by a board or architects sent by the

. Other good examples are: * Santa Maria del Mar, in

. *

Palau Reial Major The Palau Reial Major (; "Grand Royal Palace") is a complex of historic buildings located in Plaça del Rei, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was a residence of the counts of Barcelona and kings of Aragon. It is composed of three distinct edifices ...

, in

. *

Monastery of Pedralbes The Monastery of Pedralbes is a Gothic monastery in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It is now a museum, housing permanent exhibitions on its own art and legacy as well as third-party special exhibitions from time to time. The Chapel of St. Michael ...

, in

References

External links

Page of the former parish priest of Santa Maria del Mar with extensive information on this masterpiece of Catalan Gothic
{{Gothic architecture by country Gothic architecture in Spain Gothic art