The altarpiece of the Virgin of La Escala

It is a pity – not for us alone, but for the whole world – that we do not have more of a taste for our Gothic painting. Romanesque is certainly more accessible to us because of the influence it had on the avant-garde of the 20th century, Catalan painting which, due to temporal proximity, we value more. But what a pleasure we miss by not celebrating painters like Bernat Martorell or Lluís Borrassà to the same extent!

For a couple of weeks now, the monastery of Sant Esteve in Banyoles has been open to visitors. altarpiece of the Virgin of the Scale, by Joan Antigó. There should be queues to see it. The monastery has been closed since 1980 when Erik the Belgian stole its Gothic chest, now almost completely recovered and displayed there, with an impeccable restoration. The monastery has reopened coinciding with the publication of a study by Pere Freixas and Roser Juanola on the altarpiece, a study that was presented on Saturday at the Darder Museum, with the room packed and many people standing. There were plenty of reasons.

Access to this altarpiece from the mid-15th century is an event that should be reported in the newspapers. Go and see it, it's much better than going to the cinema. There are twelve scenes from the life of the Virgin Mary, that is, from the bridge that goes from the person to the divinity (or from the divinity to the person), all soaked in humanism, present in the details and the delicacy of luxury and sophistication: the organic architecture of the golden vegetables, intense as espi; the omnipresent and organic reds (not demonic reds, but of the multitudes of angels, of the ox and the mule, of the shield and the wings of Saint Michael at the bottom, which in itself is worth the whole altarpiece). It is as if the painter fused the abstract and the concrete, the spirit and the matter, through detail. Details ranging from the painted Gothic arches to the crumbling roof of the Nativity stable, passing through the rationalist forest in the background of the Resurrection scene, which seems to have been announced by Botticelli. We are in the times of Ausiàs March, and Tirant is getting closer. The luxury of precision comes from a recognition of human consciousness through objects, from a desk to a jug, from a sword to a stool, a hat, a marble or all the books scattered here and there. Painting, sculpture and architecture play like a game of mirrors. Placed inside a Gothic building, the altarpiece is part of a constructive Russian doll, the Russian doll of the consciousness of spirituality, beauty, refinement, luxury and the sweetness of being born human.