Artwork
Mural paintings of the Conquest of Majorca
Mural paintings of the Conquest of Majorca is a fresco painting by the Byzantine icon painting artist Maestro de la conquista de Mallorca. It dates from 1293 and is held in the collection of the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya. The fresco cycle illustrating the Conquest of Majorca dates from the late thirteenth century, specifically between 1285 and 1290.
About this work
Overview
The fresco cycle illustrating the Conquest of Majorca dates from the late thirteenth century, specifically between 1285 and 1290. Executed in the Gothic style, the surviving fragments are housed in the National Art Museum of Catalonia in Barcelona, where they form part of the museum’s medieval collection.
Subject & Meaning
The panels narrate the 1229 campaign that brought the island of Majorca under Crown of Aragon control. The composition is divided into three registers: a cityscape under a red sky, a gathering around a tent, and a lower battlefield where mounted warriors clash, emphasizing both the civic and martial aspects of the conquest.
Technique & Style
Created as true fresco, pigments were applied to fresh lime plaster, allowing the colors to become integral to the wall surface. The palette is restrained, dominated by earth tones, browns, beiges, and muted reds, typical of Gothic mural painting, and the figures are rendered with a stylized, linear precision.
History & Provenance
Originally part of a larger decorative program, the work survived in fragments that were later transferred to the National Art Museum of Catalonia. The museum acquired the pieces as part of its effort to preserve Catalonia’s medieval artistic heritage.
Context
The murals were likely commissioned to commemorate the royal triumph and to reinforce the legitimacy of Aragonese rule over the newly acquired territory. Their Gothic visual language reflects the broader artistic currents of the Iberian Peninsula during the late 1200s, when narrative frescoes were common in civic and religious settings.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Maestro de la conquista de Mallorca
This 13th-century Spanish artist painted large wall frescoes about a real military campaign.
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