Do you know what? Gaudí already appeared as a saint while he was alive… 

By: Ferran Garcés 

Servant of God, Venerable, Blessed, and Saint. These are the four titles of the canonization process, according to the Roman Catholic Church. Antoni Gaudí has made headlines because, during the celebration of Holy Week, he was declared “Venerable” by Pope Francis, who passed away while we were writing this article. In fact, he signed Gaudí’s decree while still recovering from his respiratory infection. 

The next step is to declare him blessed. A step that will have to be taken by a new pope. However, as many articles have been published about Gaudí’s beatification, we will not say anything about this topic here. We just want to recall an anecdote that, in light of this process, seems prophetic, and it is the fact that the so-called “architect of God”, even in life, was described as “venerable” and even shown as a saint. 

“The most venerable bearded man” 

In 1893, the Artistic Circle of Saint Luke was founded, an institution with the aim of bringing together artists and people aligned with the religious ideas of Bishop Torras i Bages, a great friend of Gaudí. The architect himself was one of the first members, as were the Figueras, the family that owned Bellesguard. Among the founders of the Circle, the Llimona brothers stand out. Josep was the sculptor and collaborated with Gaudí on the Sagrada Familia. Joan, who was a painter, frequented the church of San Felipe Neri, where both had the habit of attending mass and singing Gregorian music late in the day. In fact, this was the church Gaudí was heading to the afternoon he was run over. 

In the oratory of this church, there is a painting called “Praise be to God”. It was painted by Joan Llimona in 1902, the year Gaudí was finishing the construction of Torre Bellesguard. In it, Saint Philip Neri, a 16th-century Italian mystic, is shown during the ceremony of the consecration of the Holy Mass. Look closely at the saint’s face. Indeed, his features are those of Gaudí. 

The painter, on one occasion, confessed that the idea of using his friend as a model came to him because he was “the most illustrious and most venerable bearded man one could find in the oratory every day at the evening function”. Not content with one painting, he made a second one, where, once again, he used the “venerable bearded man” as a model to paint Philip Neri. In this second painting, we see the Italian saint on the mountain of Onofre, in Rome, accompanied by a group of children with musical instruments. 

And in heaven, what will we be? 

The musical context of the second painting is important for several reasons. The main one is the fact that the architect and the painter shared a great passion for Gregorian chant. A mutual friend was the musician Lluís Millet, the founder of the Orfeó Català, one of the most important cultural institutions of that time, and also the founder of the music chapel of San Felipe Neri. 

What would Gaudí have said about the beatification process of his figure? An initiative, remember, adopted in 1992, that is, long after his death. Would Gaudí have wished to be “venerable”, “blessed”, or even a “saint”? We will never know, but perhaps his answer would have been the one he left written in the signature book of the Orfeó Català: “In heaven, we will all be orfeonists”. 

Notes 

(1) Rius Santamaria, C., (2012), Gaudí i la quinta potència. La filosofia d’un art. Universitat de Barcelona, p. 300-311. 

(2) Bracons, J., “Joan Llimona i els artistes del Cercle Artístic de Sant Lluc”, en: Fontbona, F. (dir.), El modernisme. Pintura i dibuix, Barcelona, 2002, p. 101-112. 

Más información: Varios autores (2004), Joan Llimona (1860-1926) Josep Llimona (1864-1934), catálogo del MNAC, Barcelona. 

(3) Calasanz Laplana, Josep de (1978), “L’Oratori de Sant Felip Neri a Barcelona”, Publicacions de la Abadia de Montserrat, p. 286. 

(4) Tarragona, Josep Maria, (3/01/2012), “Agustí Mas i Folch”, web antonigaudi.org. 

(5) En el artículo mencionado antes, en la nota 4, también se encuentra una buena selección de detalles sobre la vinculación musical de Gaudí con la música polifónica, propia de un orfeón, y su conexión con Millet. Otro artículo interesante sobre este tema es: Férrin, Ana Maria (enero, 2002), “La pasión oculta de Gaudí”, Historia, Año XXV, nº 309, pp. 9-25.