“This is a painting loved by the bride and groom when they come to the entrance of the Pedralbes monastery to make the offering of the eggs to Saint Clare, some take a photo in front of this painting,” explains the Poor Clare nun Sister Isaura Marcos. Some of his photographs of this work have triggered an investigation into this enigmatic work that shows a series of mysterious details that will now be attempted to be revealed.
It is not known who the artist was, nor when this painting of Santa Clara was painted, nor why it contains an architectural element of the Pedralbes monastery in Barcelona that does not exist today, in addition to showing a hermitage that has already disappeared, that of Sant Pere. Martyr.
“We cannot confirm any exact date related to this painting because we have not studied it,” explains Enric M. Puga from the museum of the Pedralbes monastery, “there are elements that can point the painting towards the 18th century, but without a more careful study depending on the type of wood, fabric and pigments, we cannot guarantee any date with certainty.
“The same applies to the architectural element that appears on the church and that seems to have disappeared in the mid-19th century,” says Puga. We will have to wait to elucidate the mysteries that this painting entails, because “we cannot establish a historical value of the painting without being able to study it first, nor an approximate artistic value.”
“For me it was the first thing I saw when I came to the monastery of Pedralbes in 1976,” recalls Sister Isaura, “this painting has always attracted me, but until now that I realized it I was unaware of the two historical elements that disappeared with the passage of time and that today is a reason for attention”.
While waiting for the museum’s experts to study the painting, Sister Isaura contacted Fra Valentí Serra de Manresa, a Capuchin religious researcher who, among other topics, has investigated the history of the Poor Clares-Capuchins since their foundation in our lands (1599) until the end of the Spanish Civil War (1939). Author of several works, he is currently researching the contribution of the Catalan capuchins to the popular and religious tradition of Catalonia, such as the nativity scene and popular devotions, as well as conventual cuisine and medicinal herbs, horticulture and the gardening of the friars.
“When I arrived at the monastery, in the Abbess’ locutory (visiting room), I was welcomed by Sister Pierrette Prat and, at that moment, this painting that was there on the wall caught my attention, with Saint Clare with the mountain of Saint Pere Màrtir”, recalls Sister Isaura, who provides this information: “I have always been attracted to this painting, which would have been painted by a Capuchin friar from Catalonia, according to the tradition of my Poor Clare sisters of Pedralbes.”
“If the painting were from the end of the 18th century it could be attributed to Fra Agustí from Barcelona, ??but if it were painted in the post-war period, in 1945, it could be attributable to Fra Dídac d’Águilas”, details Fra Valentí Serra from Manresa, who launches this hypothesis: “According to Father Andreu de Palma there was a painter around 1787, Fra Agustí from Barcelona, ??could this be the artist who painted this painting of Santa Clara?”… The scholar recognizes that “there is very little data to investigate “the origin of this painting.
“There are two curious and significant elements in this painting: the missing hermitage of Sant Pere Màrtir is visible and, in addition, an architectural element appears on the façade of the Pedralbes monastery that currently no longer exists, data that could allow the museum to find out in which century this work was painted,” explains Sister Isaura.
The hermitage of Sant Pere Màrtir was built in the 17th century by the Dominican fathers of the convent of Santa Caterina, but its strategic location caused it to be occupied militarily in the years 1652, 1697, 1706 and 1714, suffering damage and, finally, , it was abandoned in 1792 and, in 1808, the Napoleonic troops converted it into a defense house.
Later, a telegraph was installed in 1834, but from 1863 it fell out of favor again and Sant Pere Màrtir was abandoned until it was given another military use in the Civil War with anti-aircraft batteries (nowadays transformed into a viewpoint) . But, there is no longer a trace of that, but what now presides over the mountain is the communications antenna that was installed in the 60s of the last century.
Be that as it may, the date of disappearance of the hermitage is another point in favor of defending the hypothesis that the painting of Santa Clara is from the 18th century and not later.
As a result of the open investigation into the painting of Sant Clara from the Pedralbes monastery, Sister Isaura Marcos, photographer, has captured the twilight of the Sant Pere Màrtir mountain with a touch of abstraction and reflections, following her photographic style.
“Contemplating the exuberant charm of energetic colors of twilight over the mountain, it has inspired me to interpret it with the technique of reflections, looking beyond reality,” he explains, before alluding to the artist William Turner, who said the following about his painting of Twilight over a Lake: “I didn’t paint it so that it would be understood, but because I wanted to show what such a spectacle looks like.”
