Restored to its former glory
A 17th century ornamental ceramic floor in the Palau de la Generalitat, the only one of its kind in the country, is brought back to life after two years of work
It’s not easy for historic buildings to safeguard their artistic treasures, even the Palau de la Generalitat in Barcelona, the seat of the Catalan government. At the start of the 17th century, the ceramicist Lorenzo from Madrid was commissioned to lay the floors of the three rooms that give on to the Tarongers patio. Much of those tiled floors were ripped up during the period of the Royal Audience, which occupied the palace from 1716 until 1908.
Yet, the floor in the room known as the Sala Tarongers survived. Few who entered the room were aware of what lay beneath its carpet. But the floor was in a terrible condition, and those responsible for the building’s artistic heritage, headed by architect Júlia Roca, had longed dreamt of restoring it, and with good reason: “In Catalonia no ceramic floors from this epoch survive. The one in the Palau is the only example,” says Roca.
Now, after two years of work, the floor has been returned to its former glory. The restoration involved art historians, architects, and specialists from the Centre de Restauració de Béns Mobles
When the work began, the floor lacked two large patches, with 962 of its 3,032 ceramic pieces missing. How to go about filling these patches was the first hurdle. The answer was in the Museu de Ceràmica, now part of the Museu del Disseny, which had 376 tiles from this time in its warehouse. “Thanks to the pieces stored in the museum, we were able to complete the perimeter of the floor,” says Roca. Yet that left 586 needed to complete the puzzle. They were provided by the SOT ceramic workshop, which made tiles in neutral tones that would not overshadow the originals. Once the Gamarra & Garcia restorers finished their work, the floor was covered in a PVC layer, and the room could again be used for meetings.