MNAC - Our cultural trip..Got to keep on top of Spanish Art

We have come to realise, that in fact, Spain does not know the definition of an Art Shop. I have never in my life been so grateful for London Graphics and the 4D Modelling shop. When it comes to trying to make a model here, you really have to scrounge for materials. After walking what seemed like half of the city, we came to the street where google maps told us there was a good art shop. We thought we would make the day a complete arty day, by going to the art shop to pick up our materials, then relaxing in the cafe of the art museum looking up at the wonderful architecture, followed by the rest of the day actually wondering around the museum, looking at what it had to offer. Sadly, the first part of the day was ruined, when this amazing art materials shop, that we had walked so long to get to ( in the rain), didn't actually exist! Barcelona style, we hailed a yellow/black cab, and got it to take us straight to the cafe, where we ordered a massive chocolate caliente, and just sat, and admired the view. 

The MNAC sits on the top of Montjuic, up from the Plaza Espana, through two towers and past the magic fountains. The view from the top is absolutely incredible, and the architecture of the building and its interior are even more incredible than the view. Currently exhibiting Romanesque Art, Gothic Art, Renaissance and Baroque, Modern Art, Drawings prints and posters, none would particularly compete with those exhibited at the Tate, however its Spain - you have to give them a go. After wondering around the entire museum over a period of five hours, I would have to say that the Romanesque Art exhibition was probably the most memorable. It was not actually what it exhibited that interested me, it was how they had created the exhibition. It included paintings and murals that had come from churches in the Pyrenees, however had been recreated in the exact form of how they were originally displayed. If one of the murals was on an arch in the original Romanesque Church, it had been set into an arch and placed into the exhibition with a series of other arches. Sounds complicated, and the process took a number of years, but to be able to set something like that into architecture that then creates a space and a mood that had previously been created was absolutely inspiring. It was not actually the mural that fascinated me, but how they had got it there and set it into the architecture of the room. 

Its strange how much an art museum can tire you out! We sat for what must have been two hours just staring at the ceiling in the middle of the building. Everywhere you looked, there was something new to see.