MNAC Gothic Collection

This is the Gothic section of the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya. Art in these galleries evokes a new age, a highly decorative, courtly style of chivalry, knights, ladies and dragons. Unlike the museum's Romanesque rooms, the art here is mostly urban, much it commissioned during Barcelona’s heyday.

Among the prizes are the 13th-century murals from the Palau Caldes (which now houses the Museu Picasso), with their curious Arabic motifs, illustrating Jaume I’s Siege of Mallorca.

While Romanesque Virgins have the fixed stare of primitive idols, their gracious Gothic counterparts, whether in wood, stone, ivory and alabaster, smile and relax. Among the are best are those by Jaume Cascalls (active 1345–79), who also sculpted the delicately expressive head of the Dead Christ in alabaster.