The Catalan sculptor Josep Maria Subirach (b. 1927) has been working on the Passion Facade of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona since 1987. One of the less noticeable projects are the huge bronze doors. Once we noticed these, we became fixated on the incredibly detailed and cryptic iconography on them.
The same human face appears in relief, positive and negative.
Puzzles and words are important. The number square below has its own interesting symbolism. Each row and column add up to 33, as do the two diagonals, the four quadrants, and the four corners — representing Jesus’ age at his death. I actually use this as my lock screen on my phone!
And homages to Gaudi and other symbolic elements:
You can find his work in other monumental settings as well, such as Barcelona Town Hall, at Plaça de Sant Miquel.
P.S. I run the Bing Desktop app at work (I know, the Dark Side, but whatever) because they always have pictures of places I want to be. Today, it was a picture of somewhere I’d actually been to!
