P0109

The “indiano” or adventurer. Mural in the mayor’s office at Barcelona City Hall

Ref Num.: P0109

Date: 1931-1933

Typology: Painting

Technique: Oil on canvas attached to the wall

Dimensions: –

Signed: Unsigned and undated

Barcelona, City Hall, mayor’s office

From 1929 to 1933, Xavier Nogués designed and painted the wall decorations for the mayor’s office at Barcelona City Hall. On Plandiura’s advice, the then mayor, the Baron of Viver, commissioned Nogués to undertake the task. The artist began working on the project in Paris, where he produced a series of preparatory sketches, and continued in Barcelona. The murals feature allegorical episodes that evoke the 19th-century Catalan revivalist movement, the Renaixença. The episode The “indiano” or adventurer and the ship’s captain is an allegory of the trade between Barcelona and the Americas. Image rights: Dani Rovira. With kind permission of Barcelona City Council.

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Cecília Vidal, Xavier Nogués (1873-1941), Fundació Xavier Nogués, Editorial Àmbit, Barcelona, 2011, p. 113. Cecília Vidal Maynou (dir.), Xavier Nogués (1873-1941), Alfa Books, Fundació Xavier Nogués, Barcelona, 2021, pp. 173-177.