LLEI D'ART 13

supervisionof PereDomènech i Roura. From 1996 to2004 the team composedof AugustoDalmauCam, GaeAulenti, EnricSteegmann, JosepBenedito andAgustí Obiol took on theproject to enlarge thepalacewith the aimof creating spaces to show and store the entire collection. The current museum is the result of themuseums that preceded it, and the outcome of annexing its own collections toother quitedifferent ones, such as numismatics, engravings, photography or art documentary collections. Thebuilding’s architectural style canbedefined as ‘eclectic’ or ‘historical revival’ according to the taste of the age, used especially for thosebuildings constructedwith commemoration or grandiloquence inmind. Elements fromboth the Renaissance and theBaroquewere combined in an attempt tomarrySpanish cultural heritage’s own idiosyncrasieswith the classicism common topublic architecture. Themain body of thebuildinggives an impressionof robustness that is quite at oddswith the fragility of thematerials used for its initial construction, bearing inmind it was tobe a temporary building. Thematerials used in the constructionwere not of highquality, anddue to this thebuilding has undergone numerous restorationswith the aimof improving its internal structure. Theprocesswas long and costly, and countless technical complications forced the restoration tobe structured in a series of phaseswhichweren’t finished until 2004, when thebuildingwas inauguratedby themonarchs of the time, King JuanCarlos andQueenSofia. Thedecorationof themuseum, which is in a noucentista style and therefore somewhat opposed to thebuilding’s classicism, was undertakenby such artists as Enric Casanovas, Josep Llimona, Obiols, FredericMarès,Manuel Humbert or JosepDunyac, to namebut a few. Of all the museum’s collections, theRomanesqueArt is the high point, given that is home to somemural paintings thatmake the collectionunique in theworld. There are also various wood carvings on show, aswell as pieces of goldsmithery, Colecciónde arte gótico/ GothicCollections Cortesía/ Courtesy MNAC 141