The Cathedral of Sant Pere de Vic once again exhibits, 86 years later, the morals of the four evangelists by Josep Maria Sert. These are four large-format pieces that the prestigious muralist painted in 1926 and that have now been located in the ambulatory of the temple.
Despite the fact that Vic Cathedral burned down in 1936, at the start of the Civil War, these paintings were among the few works that were saved. The owner of the canvases, the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (MNAC), has ceded them and has supervised the restoration and installed them in their original place.
Once the Civil War ended, the paintings were acquired by the Barcelona City Council, which exhibited them at the Museu d’Art Nacional de Catalunya (MNAC) at the time they were created.
At the end of the 1980s, the MNAC ceded them to the Vic City Council so that they could be exhibited in the Capella Fonda de l’Església de la Pietat, where they remained until a few years ago, when the Capella Fonda underwent a thorough remodeling to become in the current Vicpuntzero.
The episcopal delegate of Cultural Heritage of Bisbat de Vic, Dani Font, explained that the canvases of the four evangelists were exhibited in 2021 in the central nave of the church on the occasion of the temporary exhibition ‘Sert en flames’. Now, once installed in the ambulatory, the idea is that they remain “permanently”, said Font.
Josep Maria Sert decorated the interior of Vic Cathedral on two occasions: in 1926 and 1945. When he thought about the second decoration, after the Civil War, they made a completely new project, both iconographically and stylistically, and he did not reuse any of the items that had been saved from the fire. In this way, Font explains, the difference between the canvases of the first stage, with a “much more optimistic” painting, of those from after the war, of a much more deranged Sert, where a “less kind” tone is perceived. .
The large canvases, which are between 4 and 6 meters high and weigh about half a ton, were located in the old presbytery. In them you can see the four evangelists presented with the elements they symbolize: Mark with the lion, Lucas with the bull, Juan with the eagle and Mateo with the angel.
In order to exhibit the fabrics in good conditions, the entire ambulatory has been remodeled. Among other actions, the walls and cornices have been restored, the lighting has been completely renovated and tubular metal supports have been installed.
There you can also continue to see another of the artistic jewels of the cathedral: the old Gothic altarpiece of the cathedral by Pere Oller. For Dani Font, installing the canvases on a metal support was important so as not to give the idea, if they were hung on the wall, that Sert had made them with that space in mind. “It was a way of showing that these paintings were not going here,” he said.
This initiative includes other actions related to Sert’s work that want to recover and value the work of this world-renowned muralist. Among other actions, work is being done to restore and condition all the mural decoration of the central nave and the restoration of the roof of the temple. In addition, a multimedia informative space is being promoted around Sert in the old sacristy of the Canonges, which should see the light of day at the end of this year. The rest of the actions, the forecast is to finish them in 2025.
The total cost of the project is 1.8 million euros contributed by the Bishopric of Vic, the Vic City Council, the Department of Culture of the Generalitat de Catalunya and the Ministry of Culture. The vicar general of the Bishopric of Vic, Josep María Riba has highlighted the “good harmony” between the different institutions and the church, “a good part of art, for the church and for the country”.
The execution of the project to recover Sert’s work in the Cathedral is part of a long list of interventions in different cathedral areas, which have the desire to put the entire cathedral in an optimal state for its liturgical and cultural life.
In this way, the restoration of the Baroque chapel of Sant Bernat Calbó and the Escrivania building, located under the bell tower, has recently been completed, and the restoration of the Gothic cloister, the restoration of the Romanesque canonical building, and the newsroom are underway. of the lower cloister rehabilitation project.
