The paintings of Saint Catherine from La Seu d’Urgell are a late but extraordinary example of Catalan Romanesque painting. Their discovery, behind a Baroque altarpiece, rescued them from oblivion but also led inevitably to their being dispersed in the world of antiques collecting. Divided into three separate parts, these pieces are now conserved in the MNAC (TheDispute and Arrest of Saint Catherine), the Abegg Foundation in Switzerland (TheMartyrdom) and the MEV (TheLast Supper).
The exceptional rediscovery of the paintings in this exhibition offers the visiting public, for the first time since they were removed, the opportunity to enjoy the complete group, and to delve into the history of the devotion to Saint Catherine of Alexandria, its relationship with La Seu d’Urgell’s struggles against Catharism, its stylistic connections and the technical procedure of their removal.
The exhibition The Wise Princess. The Paintings of Saint Catherine from La Seu d’Urgell, organized jointly by the MEV and the MNAC, is part of the project to reunite groups scattered around the world, begun in 2007 with a first show dedicated to the Tost Baldachin. The idea of the collaboration between both museums came about with the intention of joining forces in order to offer a better knowledge, study and dissemination of the art of this country, an aim that still continues today just as firmly and with an identical wish.