Font del Geni Català

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 in the Empire style. The idea to dedicate a monument to Queen Isabel II was conceived in the 1830s but was not carried out. On December 14, 1851, 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 on December 18, 1851, claiming it consisted of ‘two things essentially different, which is philosophically very difficult to give unity’. On December 27, 1851, Molina presented a modified project, removing the queen's statue and replacing it with an allegorical figure of a genie holding an star, symbolizing the splendor of the monarchy, the ‘vivifying light of the Spanish people’ and progress. The Academia approved the modified project on December 30, 1851.

The City Council of Barcelona agreed to dedicate the monument to Marqués de Campo Sagrado Bernaldo de Quirós on July 13, 1852. 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. On August 3, 1852, Molina presented a new memory of the project, changing the main allegorical meaning to symbolize 'the enterprising spirit of the Catalans’.

The works were started immediately and the central figure was made of marble by the Baratta brothers, marble craftsmen from Carrara. Today, the Font del Geni Català stands at the center of Pla del Palau, Barcelona.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons