The lecture explored the artistic and architectural activity promoted by the Hospital of sant Sever from its foundation in 1412 through to the seventeenth century. Through an examination of the institution’s principal patronage initiatives, the research analyses how art became a tool of representation and legitimisation for the secular clergy, reinforcing its role as an agent of power within the city of Barcelona.
Presented at the international conference Abrils de l’Hospital. Ospedali e confraternite in Europa (secoli XIII–XVIII), the research draws upon documentation preserved in the Historical Archive of the City of Barcelona, the Historical Archive of Protocols of Barcelona, and the photographic archive of the Institut Amatller d’Art Hispànic. The combined analysis of these sources has enabled a deeper understanding of three major projects commissioned by the hospital administration: the sculptural group depicting Saint Sever and praying clerics by Pere Oller (1434–1442), the altarpiece of Saint Sever produced with the participation of Damià Forment, Francesc Patau, Martí Díez de Liatzasolo, Pere Nunyes and Enrique Fernandes (1534–1541), and the sixteenth-century architectural remodelling of the church, including the construction of a new façade and entrance space.
Beyond the formal and artistic analysis of these works, the lecture provided new insights into the strategies of institutional representation developed by the Hospital of sant Sever and the role that artistic commissions played in shaping its identity and public projection in Early Modern Barcelona.
About the Speaker
Clara Villanueva Moreno is an art historian and coordinator of the Casacuberta Marsans Collection. She holds an MA in Medieval Cultures from the University of Barcelona, where she collaborates on the research project Romanica Excerpta Picta (RECTA) with a study on the mural paintings and liturgical function of Santa Maria de Taüll. She is also a research assistant for the project to inventory the corpus of medieval illuminated manuscripts in Catalonia, led by the Institut d’Estudis Catalans. Her research focuses on medieval iconography and on the study of objects, spaces, and visual practices in medieval Catalonia.