(The last of my posts about the Basílica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família in Barcelona.)
The doors on this side of the basilica are very different in style. Rather like the Da Vinci code two of the double doors are full of mysterious ciphers that I feel one should be able to decode.
All the doors were designed by Josep M. Subirachs. They took twenty years to complete
For the description of Christ’s passion, Subirachs created single sculptures, sculptural groups and relief letters, and four bronze doors dedicated to Gethsemane’s garden (1995), the Coronation (1997), the Gospel according to St. Matthew and the Gospel according to St. John (2000).
The sculptor wanted all the façade work to be captured in the centre door (2000). For this reason, he decided to reproduce the text of the Gospel illustrated by means of the sculptures, with over 8,000 smelted bronze letters erected ‘like two enormous open books’. The letters have a bronze patina and the repeated letter is one of the most emblematic techniques he used in order to turn message into a work of art.
