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Three historic pieces by Antoni Gaudí and the Sagrada Família go up for auction in Barcelona
Barcelona is hosting an unusual event today for those following the history of Gaudí and the Sagrada Família. Three pieces linked to the architect and the church are going up for auction in the city, with a value beyond the art market: they are fragments of urban memory.
The lot that arouses the most anticipation is a photograph considered the oldest known of the Sagrada Família. The image allows us to see the temple in its earliest years and understand what that area was like before it became one of Barcelona's most visited places.
A plaster sketch of a large stained-glass window attributed to Gaudí is also being auctioned. The piece is of interest not only for its rarity, but because it brings us closer to the architect's creative process, to that preliminary phase in which an idea is not yet a building but already contains a way of seeing light, space and detail.
The third work is a portrait of Antoni Gaudí signed by Ricard Opisso, an artist linked to Barcelona's Modernista scene. Its presence in the auction adds another layer of interest: it does not show a work by the architect, but the image of a creator who ended up defining part of the city's visual identity.
The three pieces are offered individually at Setdart, opening the door both to private collectors and to institutions interested in preserving documentary heritage related to Gaudí. In Barcelona, every object linked to the Sagrada Família carries a meaning that goes beyond simple buying and selling.
Interest in these lots comes at a time of renewed attention to the temple. The Sagrada Família is advancing towards its final major construction phases, and any document that helps reconstruct its history arouses curiosity among experts, residents and visitors.
Gaudí remains a central figure for understanding Barcelona, but also a constant source of questions. His buildings are visible to everyone, while sketches, old photographs and archival pieces allow us to glimpse the less visible part of his work.
The auction reminds us that the city's history is not only preserved in façades and monuments. Sometimes it appears in an old image, in a workshop plaster cast or in a portrait that returns to the present to show how Barcelona began to build one of its most universal symbols.