TORRALBA Francesc, La façana de la Glòria de la Sagrada Família. Fonts espirituals i teològiques de l’escatologia d’Antoni Gaudí (The façade of the Glory of the Sagrada Familia. Spiritual and theological sources of Antoni Gaudí’s eschatology) Studia Gaudiniana 7, Ateneu Universitari Sant Pacià, Barcelona 2022, pp. 874.
We have in our hands a rather voluminous book on a reality that, at least for now, does not yet exist: the façade of the Glory of the Sagrada Familia basilica in Barcelona. The other two façades are already finished: that of the Nativity, the only one that the genius Gaudí saw completed, and that of the Passion. “Only” the main one is missing, that of the Glory. This façade for now is just a project. Torralba’s thesis (this author’s fourth doctoral thesis) aims to delve into its future iconography. He describes the symbolic elements that will integrate it and explores the spiritual and theological sources of Gaudí’s eschatological thought in order to understand his representation of the afterlife: heaven, purgatory and hell. To do this, Torralba starts from the historical sources, trying to explain the meaning of each of the parts and the future sculptural groups that will have to be sculpted. He wants to give the artists who will be entrusted with the task of carrying out these sculptures some keys to represent the scope of Gaudí’s eschatology in stone.
Francesc Torralba i Roselló (1967- ) is a Catalan university professor, philosopher and theologian. He authored a thesis on Sören Kierkegaard (1813-1855) and another on the anthropological thought of Hans Urs von Balthasar (1905-1988). Multi-awarded. Director and president of several University chairs. In 2011 Pope Benedict XVI (1927-2022) appointed him a consultant to the Pontifical Council for Culture of the Holy See. He is the author of a long list of books on anthropological and spiritual subjects. Last but not least, he is the father of a family.
Here we dare to present this last work because Antoni Gaudí was a great admirer and devotee of Saint Antoni Maria Claret. He said that if statues were placed on the future Passion façade, the first would be that of the then “Venerable” Father Claret. And it has been so. Consequently, Torralba is going to dedicate some pages of his book (pp. 782-789) to the influence of Claret in the eschatology of Gaudí’s façade. We will cover this particular below.
The volume which, as we said, is based on Torralba’s fourth doctoral thesis (!), starts with a synthetic, but intense and farsighted presentation by Armand Puig i Tàrrech, Rector of Sant Pacià University Athenaeum in Barcelona and director of the thesis. It begins with a comparison between two geniuses: Ramon Llull (1232-1316), medieval philosopher and theologian, poet and reformer of the Church of his time, and Antoni Gaudí i Cornet (1856-1926), master of architecture, poet of stone, nicknamed “the architect of God”, attentive to the biblical-theological and liturgical symbolism of Christianity and a fervent Catholic. With his basilica, Gaudí already said in 1910 in Paris that what he wanted was to “perfect the Gothic”, something very different from “repeating the Gothic”, which was what the so-called neo-Gothic architecture was doing at the time (pp. 5 -8).
For his part, Torralba, in the prologue (pp. 9-12), confesses being fascinated by the works of Gaudí. This led the then Cardinal-Archbishop of Barcelona to call him, in 2017, to be a member of the theological commission that had to analyse the iconography of the Glory façade, since it wants to represent the afterlife: heaven, purgatory and hell.
The study is divided into five parts and some conclusions: 1) Gaudí’s universe (pp. 12-76); 2) the façade of the Glory (pp. 77-475); 3) main source of inspiration for the façade (pp. 476-522); 4) spiritual and theological sources of Gaudí’s eschatology (pp. 523-826); 5) directives for artistic creation (pp. 827-837); 6) conclusions (pp. 839-845). The volume closes with an extensive bibliography (pp. 847-861).
In the first part, he delves, beyond the familiar clichés, into the character of Gaudí as a brilliant artist, contemplative mystic, theologian architect, active citizen and committed Christian; an authentic “spiritual bomb”, as the surrealist genius Salvador Dalí (1904-1989) called him (p. 29). The second part, the longest by far, offers an exhaustive presentation of the Glory façade, based on historical sources, trying to explain the meaning of each of the parts and the sculptural groups, the interpretation of the symbols and its various meanings. To cite an example: the main door, the work of Josep Maria Subirachs (1927-2014) with the help of Bruno Gallard, was already installed in 2008 and opened by Benedict XVI in 2010. It consists of two large bronze doors, with the entire text of the Our Father written in raised letters in Catalan and forty-nine other languages. Forty-nine because it is the result of 7 x 7, and the number 7 evokes perfection in the Bible; that is, perfection squared, the ultimate perfection. In the third part of the book, we see how, according to Torralba’s hypothesis, it was the catechism of Bishop Josep Domènech Costa i Borràs (1805-1865) which Gaudí learned as a child, the main source of reference. In the fourth part, regarding the sources that inspired Gaudí’s eschatology, the author distinguishes between Gaudí’s contemporaries (among others, Saint Josep Manyanet, 1833-1901, Dom Guéranger, 1805-1875, Josep Torres i Bages, 1846- 1916, Jacint Verdaguer, 1845-1902…) and classical sources (Ramon Llull, 1232-1316, Tomás de Kempis, 1380-1471, Saint Juan de la Cruz, 1542-1591, Saint Teresa de Jesus, 1515-1582, Jaume Balmes , 1810-1848, and Saint Antoni Maria Claret, 1807-1870); he even spends a few pages talking about Gaudí’s eschatology in light of the Second Vatican Council (pp. 789-826). In the much shorter fifth part, he sets forth some guidelines for artistic creation: how to represent hell, purgatory and heaven. Finally, Torralba summarises synthetically the contributions of his volume. He concludes by thanking Mr. Esteve Camps, president-delegate, and Dr. Jordi Faulí, chief architect of the works, for the images that he has been able to reproduce in this study.
The space dedicated to Claret is very short: barely eight pages. When Claret died, Gaudí was already eighteen years old, so he inevitably had to hear about him and live under his influence. Torralba says that the history of the evangelization of the Church in Catalonia cannot be understood without Claret’s contribution. A contribution in a very complex and difficult situation. Claret opted for an openness to preaching, a communication strategy, closeness and availability to work in a network. Along with others (Balmes, Coll, Vedruna…), instead of simply lamenting that situation and yearning for the past, he accepted the change of era, opening himself up to new forms of preaching and consolidation of the people’s faith. Claret focused on the essentials in his books, leaflets and preaching; in catechesis, not only for children, but also for adults. He was practical, and he himself composed no fewer than four catechisms in his lifetime. As for the eschatology, compassion as well as the desire to make his brothers happy urged Claret not to rest. Somehow the Claretian desire to avoid eternal damnation and be happy with Father God in heaven must appear in the stone of this façade.
This volume or doctoral thesis represents an immense baggage of knowledge on the part of its author. An excellent presentation of what will be the façade of the Glory of the Sagrada Família, for those who really want to enter this profound world of spirituality in stone. It, indeed, honours Gaudí and enriches those who can already sense it and will later be able to contemplate it once inaugurated. Suffice it to say that now the Sagrada Familia is one of the two most visited monuments annually by millions of tourists in Spain, and it is not finished yet!
J. Rovira, cmf.