Artistic

The collection of rock paintings in the Muntanyes de Prades is made up of around forty archaeological sites, only three of which are open to visitors: Portell dels Lletres, Mas d'en Llort and Mas d'en Ramon d'en Bessó.
 
The compositions and pictorial scenes preserved here show hunters and wild animals such as goats, deer, bovines, or wild boars, as well as herders with domesticated animals and a large number of abstract signs and symbols. They depict the transition from hunting and gathering (simpler language) to agriculture (more complex language).
 
This may also have been a space for solar worship: in addition to the hunting scenes, we can see depictions of honey harvesting and sunsets.
 
in order to facilitate the interpretation of all these paintings, the Rock Art Interpretation Centre of the Mountains of Prades was created in Montblanc. It presents a significant sample of these prehistoric images as well as an exhibit with full-sized reconstructions of the rock shelters where they are found.
 
Some of these archaeological sites (around fifteen) were included in the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1998 together with the other rock art sites in the Mediterranean Basin of the Iberian Peninsula. They are also included in the Rock Art Route.

The rock paintings of El Cocó de la Gralla, which are over 8,000 years old, were discovered in 2004 by a local, but the authorities were not informed of their existence until ten years later.
 
These paintings are found in the nature park of Els Ports, in the ravine of Montpou in the municipality of Mas de Barberans (Montsià). An extraordinary find, they show a type of figure not documented in Catalonia until 2018.

This set of paintings shows 69 figures in the Eastern Iberian or naturalist style, including 27 archers, 4 human figures and 3 goats. Some are depicted wearing ornaments such as feathers. Especially noteworthy are two rows of running archers, as well as a number of animals and footprints, which make up a possible hunting scene. These figures make this one of the most exceptional collections of rock art in Catalonia.

The town of Capçanes, in the Priorat region, houses the largest collection of rock paintings in Catalonia. This includes a total of 19 pieces in two ravines: the Barranc de la Vall and the Barranc de Parellada. One of the most important pieces is ‘The Sacrifice’, a mural with 27 figures showing a human sacrifice, a rarity in Eastern Iberian art that makes the site a unique find.  
 
Among the more than 150 human and animal figures depicted, a large 54-cm bull stands out. It is one of the largest registered pieces of rock art, along with three carvings of deer on the rock overhang. This is the first collection of paintings found on an overhang in Catalonia. They date from a period when rock art was not common in the region, and it may therefore be one of the oldest pieces of rock art in Catalonia.

Murals, painting on wood, sculpture, textiles, clothing, documentary collections, metalwork, objects for the liturgy, etc. The current collection of the Museu Diocesà d'Urgell (Diocesan Museum of Urgell) is a reference point of sacred art in which the Beatus de Liébana particularly stands out, one of only two copies in Catalonia of the work that the Abbot Beat, from the Monastery of Liébana, wrote at the end of the 8th century, commenting on the Book of Revelation.

Curiously, the Museum grew out of a temporary exhibition that took place in 1957 with the pieces from the Cathedral Treasury. Such was the success of the exhibition that it was made permanent and the collection was expanded with pieces from throughout the diocese in the Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque styles and from the 19th century. Among these acquisitions there are treasures such as the Papal Bull of Pope Sylvester II.

In 1969, the Church of la Pietat (annexed to the Cathedral of Santa Maria de la Seu d'Urgell) was adapted to house the Museum. This space brought its own works to the collection such as the Pieta altarpiece and the Dormition group, made by the sculptor Jeroni Xanxo.

One of the most significant works of the collection is El retaule dels Goigs de la Verge (The Altarpiece of the Joys of the Virgin), from Abella de la Conca. It is by Pere Serra and dates from the 14th Century. In addition to its artistic value, it has a history of white-collar theft behind it. It was stolen in 1972 and, after a long journey, was recovered six years later in New York.

Frederic Marès, in addition to being a sculptor, developed a passion for collecting from a very early age. Over a period of more than 80 years, he assembled a large number of works of art (particularly sculpture) and more than 50,000 objects. In 1944, he gave his collections to the city of Barcelona which exhibited the collection two years later at the Museu Frederic Marès (Frederic Marès Museum), located in the former Royal Palace of the Counts of Barcelona.

In the basement and on the first two floors the collection of Hispanic sculpture from ancient times until the 19th century are concentrated . One of the jewels in the crown is L’aparició de Jesús als seus deixebles al mar (The Appearance of Jesus to his Disciples at the Sea), attributed to the Master of Cabestany, a masterpiece of the Catalan Romanesque which came from the monastery of Sant Pere de Rodes. Sculpture of the Spanish Renaissance and Baroque periods are also well represented. To a lesser extent, other artistic collections are on display (painting, metalwork, furniture and textiles).

Also displayed in the same building are the objects that Marès had collected: dolls, clocks, fans, pipes, playing cards, daguerreotypes, pharmacy jars, tin soldiers, etc. This area is known as the Gabinet del col·leccionista, or the Collector’s cabinet (Marès called it the Sentimental Museum). The visitor can take a tour through 17 rooms, in which the thousands of curious and endearing objects have been brought together which reflect the life and customs of the past, especially from the 19th century.

Finally, those who wish to delve more deeply into the figure of Frederic Marès can visit the study/library of the artist. This space has a set of sculptural works by Marès, which he himself chose to display to the public, as well as a number of personal items.

One of the most important collections of Catalan Romanesque art in Catalonia can be seen in the Museu Diocesà i Comarcal de Solsona (The Diocesan and Regional Museum of Solsona), located in the Episcopal Palace. As well as making a stop in the medieval period, visitors can take a trip back through time: from the prehistoric era to the modern age.

Most notable in the extensive Romanesque room are the architectural elements that come from the cloisters of the Cathedral of Santa Maria de Solsona: several capitals and an historiated column from the workshop of Master Gilabert de Tolosa.

Also outstanding is the exhibition of Virgin and Child paintings from the 12th and 13th centuries and major examples of pre-Romanesque and Romanesque wall painting from the complexes of Sant Quirze de Pedret and Sant Vicenç de Rus , the paintings on wooden panels from the side of the main altar of the Church of Sant Andreu de Sagàs, the Gothic pabel with the scene of the Last Supper of Santa Constance of Linyà and the altarpiece of Sant Jaume de Frontanyà.

The Diocesan Museum of Solsona was created in 1896 by Bishop Ramon Riu i Cabanes. The aim was the same as for those of the other ecclesiastical museums, such as the Episcopal Museum of Vic, founded 5 years earlier: to preserve the heritage of the diocese and to contribute to the national reconstruction launched by the Catalan Renaixença. All this wealth was endangered with the outbreak of the Spanish Civil war in 1936. For this reason, part of the collection was moved to Geneva and returned to Solsona after the war. The current Museum is the result of renovations carried out in the 1980s.

The visit to the Girona City History Museum starts with a look at the building itself. It is a Gothic mansion (15th century) owned by the Cartellà family, which became the Capuchin convent of Sant Antoni in the 18th century. The cemetery, the cistern and the cloister have been preserved from this time. At the end of the 19th century it was converted into a school and finally, in 1981, it was transformed into a museum. In addition, it houses the remains of the wall of the ancient Gerunda and part of the enclosure of the medieval Cal or Jewish quarter.

In all, a journey through the history of Girona which already indicates what the visitor will find on display inside: a chronological journey through the Roman, medieval, modern and contemporary Girona that is completed with a look at various Catalan traditions such as the cobla and the sardana.

Among the most notable exhibits are: the fragment of the pavement mosaic of Can Pau Birol, from 300 AD; the bronze sculpture of the Angel from the Cathedral of Girona, made in 1764 by Ramon Salvatella; modernista and noucentista works by the sculptors, Fidel Aguilar and Ricard Guinó; and posters of political events from the Transition to Democracy in Girona, among other items.

The Museum also manages the air-raid shelter of the Jardí de la Infància, from the Civil War, and the modernista branch of the Agència Gómez.

One of the consequences of the French Revolution was the birth of nationalism throughout Europe. Catalonia did not remain on the sidelines and, in the mid-19th century, the Renaixença began, a cultural movement whose aim was to make Catalan a language of literature and culture and, at the same time, to exalt the history of Catalonia and the idea of patriotism.

Within this context, the Centre Excursionista de Catalunya (Hiking Centre of Catalonia) was formed in 1890 in Barcelona. The founding objective was "to promote excursions around our region in order to make it better known and appreciated, and also to publish papers resulting from these excursions, creating a library and archive". And what better way, in the late 19th century, of documenting these outings than through photography.

The Centre Excursionista collected such a large amount of material that a Photographic Archive had to be created, situated on Carrer Paradís in Barcelona. Currently, it has more than 100 collections (400,000 images) from private donations and bequests. The themes are varied: in addition to landscapes of Catalonia and mountain activities, there are photographs of archaeology, caving, water sports, cycling, boxing, etc. The whole archive is an important historical legacy of Catalonia of the 19th and 20th centuries.

At the same time, the Archive also shows the technical evolution of photography. There are collodion glass plates from the 1860s, silver bromide gelatin plates from the late 19th century, nitrates, stereoscopic plates and autochromes. Also preserved is historical photographic equipment such as cameras, tripods, laboratory instruments and light meters.