Focus on Batlló Majesty and discuss the History.
The Batlló Majesty is a 12th-century Romanesque polychrome wood carving now in the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya in Barcelona, Catalonia. The Batlló Majesty is one of the finest and best-preserved examples of these Catalan sculptures. Carved wooden images were a fundamental element in churches as objects of veneration within the Catholic Church. One of the most elaborate types in Catalonia was the Christ in Majesty, images of Christ on the Cross that symbolize his triumph over death, of which the most outstanding is the Batlló Majesty. The frontal geometric composition of the tunic decorated in circles and floral motifs is reminiscent of the refined Byzantine and Hispano-Moorish fabrics held in such high esteem in the Christian West during this time. The great reference for this type was the Volto Santo in Lucca  (Tuscany, Italy), which was regarded as having miraculous origins and was the object of pilgrimage and extraordinary devotion from the end of the eleventh century.At the end of the 11th century wood sculpture flourished in Catalonia. Carvers used four main formats to represent the Crucifixion:'Calvaries' where Jesus is represented on the cross with Mary and St. John the Apostle.
'Deposition Tableaux', or figures of the good and bad thieves Mary Magdalene, John the Apostle, Nicodemus, and Joseph of Arimathea
'Majestats' where large wooden crucifixes showed a triumphant Christ wearing a colobium (a long sleeveless tunic).
'Nude Majestats' where Christ is wearing only a perizonium (loincloth).Wood carving workshops were still active in the 12th century in the western part of the region in the high valleys of the Pyrenees in Catalonia. There are over thirty examples of these large crucifixes, called majestats. The Batlló Majesty has been linked to the region of Olot near Girona. As with much medieval art, its creator is unknown, although a medieval legend credits Nicodemus with producing the sculpture soon after the actual Crucifixion, a pious tradition repeated elsewhere in Europe in connection with similar monumental crosses, like the better known Volto Santo in the church of San Martino, Lucca, to which they bear a notable similarity in appearance and date, these Catalan crucifixes were believed to have miraculous powers.A large number of majestats still exist from the Catalan provinces of Girona, Barcelona and Lleida, and the French province of Roussillon, such that some scholars believe these are monumental crosses once hung in almost every Romanesque church built in these regions as rood crosses. It is possible that the Majestats were the focus of an important and popular cult veneration in these regions as early as the tenth century. They were normally hung near portals of the churches or altars dedicated to the Savior. Often the backs of the majestats were painted with the Agnus Dei and the Evangelist's symbols suggesting that these crosses were also carried in processions.Probably it comes from a church in the district of Garrotxa (Girona). It entered the museum's collection donated by Enric Batlló to the Province of Barcelona on a permanent loan, 1914. Its inventory Number is 015937-000.
Mary Magdalene pilgrimage Jesus Roussillon Garrotxa Mary Christ in Majesty Olot Joseph of Arimathea crucifix St. John the Apostle Catalonia Romanesque perizonium Catholic Church John Italy Byzantine Agnus Dei tunic Volto Santo Pyrenees Nicodemus Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya John the Apostle Tuscany polychrome Province of Barcelona colobium Crucifix Barcelona medieval art rood cross Lucca Crucifixion Lleida Girona