Plaça Sant Iu 5,
Jaume I

The Catalan sculptor Frederick Marès (b. 1893) lived out a remarkable 98 years, much of which he spent collecting. He must have done, for here is his collection; a vast building of five floors, home to a huge number of Hispanic religious sculptures; not to mention room upon room of 19th century everyday effluvia, from cigarette cards to fans, photos to toy theatres.

Of all of the museum’s vast collection of religious sculpture, with its rows of Madonnas and saints, room 10 must be the most startling. Here you stand surrounded, unable to see anything else except wall upon wall of life-sized crucifixions. For the believer or non-believer alike the effect is dramatic. Here is a powerful image we see every day -- Christ crucified on the cross -- and yet, repeated mirror-like in such numbers, it takes on a new and tremendously moving intent.

From here you turn a corner, leaving behind this terrific display of pain, and find yourself face to face with a wall literally covered in hundreds of smaller crucifixes. It’s a beautiful collection; but for me the sheer quantity -- and displayed in this way -- brought to mind some of the stranger scenes from the movie ‘Carrie’. I soon found myself moving on.

contributor: Nigel Hayler