Sant Sever

Sculptor: Joan Flotats
Materials: Stone from Montjuïc with metallic element

The year 1550, the Minister of Gualbes Bonaventura defrayed the execution of stone images of patterns of Barcelona, ​​Santa Eulalia and San Severo, so they were placed in the Gothic facade of the Consell de Cent; on street corners, in existing architectural elements, bracket and canopy. Between 1831 and 1847, the architect Josep Mas reforms carried out in the building; the most important was the construction of a new facade to the square of Santiago, which involved the mutilation of much of the medieval facade. The figure of San Severo sixteenth century was lost in the course of the works. The figure of Santa Eulalia remained isolated, and in November 1850 was talk of moving it to the corner of the square of Santiago with the old street of San Miguel.

The image of St. Severus carries a staff and a book of Scripture in hand, wears pluvial and miter because he was bishop of Barcelona, ​​and was martyred in the year 636. The figure is the work of sculptor Joan Flotats and Luciano (1847-1917), one of the greatest exponents of realist religious imagery, a disciple of Agapit Vallmitjana. It has also discussed the collaboration of Lluís Puiggener and Fernandez (1951-1918). We do not know the exact dating of the sculpture, but should be discarded hypotheses that speak of 1830 or 1865, because the artists were not born or were a little too young. Perhaps we should mention the decade of the 80s of the nineteenth century, a decade of feverish activity in the public beautification of Barcelona facing the Universal Exhibition of 1888.