The monumental sculpture of the Catalan Genius

The Font del Geni Català is a monument located in the center of Pla del Palau, Barcelona, catalogued as a cultural asset of local interest. It is one of the few preserved examples of monumental sculpture of the Empire style. In the mid-1830s, the idea was conceived to dedicate a monument to a queen, but it was not carried out. Later, architect Francesc Daniel Molina presented a project for a font with four statues representing the four Catalan provinces.

The Academia de Belles Arts rejected the project, claiming it consisted of «two things essentially different [to those which] is philosophically very difficult to give unity». Molina later presented a modified project, removing the statue of the queen and replacing it with an allegorical figure of a genie holding a star, symbolizing progress. The Academia issued a favorable report on the modified project.

Barcelona agreed to dedicate the monument to the Marqués de Campo Sagrado Bernaldo de Quirós. Bernaldo de Quirós was responsible for the first urbanization of the Passeig de Gràcia and succeeded in bringing Montcada’s waters to the city’s fonts during the winter of 1826. Molina presented a new memory of the project, changing the main allegorical meaning to symbolize «the enterprising spirit of the Catalans».

Works began immediately with the central figure of the genie eventually being crafted in marble by the Baratta brothers, residents of the city. Although the project faced significant delays and the sculpture's genitals were eventually removed due to controversy, it remains a landmark of Barcelona's urban history.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons