Episcopal Palace. Astorga. Leon. 12 x 19 x 10 cm.

Description

Model of the Episcopal Palace of Astorga, made of marble reconstituted with resin.

Measurements: 12 x 19 x 10 cm.

Episcopal Palace of Astorga, León. Between 1887 and 1893 the peculiar and sometimes misunderstood architectural language of Antoni Gaudí (1852 and 1926) was masterfully captured in one of his most significant works: the Episcopal Palace of Astorga.

It was commissioned by the Ministry of Grace and Justice at the suggestion of the bishop of this thousand-year-old town in León, Juan Bautista Grau Vallespinós, who had met the Catalan architect in Tarragona, and was left unfinished due to Gaudí’s disagreements with the canons after the bishop’s death. Even so, it is one of the finest neo-Gothic buildings in Spain, now home to the ‘Museo de los Caminos’.

Starting from the spirit that gave birth to Catalan Gothic, Gaudí gave this slender building his own personal stamp, with the three large flared arches of its portico already hinting at new architectural solutions. Made of granite from El Bierzo and with slate roofs, it has a cross plan with circular towers at the corners. Inside, the hall, the central throne room and the oratory or chapel are worth mentioning. The whole building is surrounded by a small moat that gives the whole a fortress-like appearance.