Before being transported from the Museum of Sacred Art of Mallorca, the stained-glass windows will undergo work to consolidate their most damaged parts, a process that will be funded by the French museum.
At the start of the 20th century, the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí was the central figure in one of the most important interventions in the history of the Cathedral. His trace can be seen in furnishings, in the exterior and interior of the Cathedral, and also in its lighting using stained-glass windows. Two of the stained-glass windows designed by Gaudí, which are kept in the museum of Sacred Art of Mallorca, will go on display in the Museé d’Orsay in Paris from April to July 2022.
The stained-glass windows will form part of an exhibition on Gaudí, put on jointly by the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya and Paris’s Museé d’Orsay. Before going on loan, both specimens will have to undergo consolidation work, which will be funded by the French museum. On Friday they will travel to Barcelona to start the restoration process.
The two windows were initially part of a joint request by the museums for the loan of a number of works by Antoni Gaudí that belong to the Cathedral of Mallorca, in the context of his work at the start of the 20th century. The Cathedral carried out a selection process among the requested works, assessing the state of conservation and liturgical use of these items. So, for example, pieces such as the Cathedral’s tintinnabulum and umbraculum cannot go as they are used in the celebration of the Feast of Corpus Christi.
In the case of the stained-glass windows, the Cathedral was initially reluctant to loan them owing to their conservation problems, which could be worsened during transportation. However, given the Musée d’Orsay’s specific interest in these stained-glass windows, the French museum will fund the consolidation work for the most damaged panels, which is necessary so that they can travel.
The consolidation work will be carried out by the artisan from Barcelona Jordi Bonet, of Vitralls Bonet, who has worked with the Cathedral on many occasions. The exhibition at the Musée d’Orsay in which the stained-glass windows of Gaudí will be on display starts on 12 April and ends on 17 July 2022.
