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Who was Frederic Marès?
Barcelona is a cultural capital for many reasons, among them, the many important Museums. A very special one in the heart of the city, being the Frederic Marés Museum.
Frederic Marès (1893-1991) was a Catalan sculptor and art collector. His interest in acquiring really varied pieces led him to set up an exhibition in 1944,when he decided to donate his entire collection to the city of Barcelona.
The Museum was created and its exhibition rooms grew until the space was too small and so now many of its pieces can be found in other museums such as the Sabadell History Museum, the Ampurdán Museum in Figueras, the Frederic Marès Museum in Montblanch, the Arenys de Mar Museum or the Museum of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando in Madrid.
A corner of peace in the centre of the Gòtic neighbourhood
The Frederic Marès Museum is located in a series of buildings that were part of the Royal Palace, seat of the kings of the Catalan-Aragonese crown in medieval times. A place, therefore, with a lot of history and that hides a very special corner, the Palace garden. It is an interior patio, with porches, full of orange trees, with a fountain in the centre that offers a calm space within the bustling centre of Barcelona.
What secrets does the Museum hide?
The Museum’s collection is very varied and the rooms are organised according to the theme of the pieces. Sculpture occupies a large part of the Museum, a very extensive collection with works from the 5th century BC to pieces from the 19th century.
The Frederic Mares Study-Library is located on the second floor. It is a space where the aim is to recreate the artist’s workshop and through a very interesting discourse the Mares’ work can be discovered in a more intimate way.
But, the secret we are looking for is found in the well-known Collector’s Cabinet. The most peculiar part of the Museum. Many objects from everyday life of the 19th century are on display. From automatons, watches, doorknobs, keys, locks, a selection of weapons and thousands of other objects until you reach the Women’s Room where, among gloves, bracelets, lace scarves, headbands and perfume bottles, there is a collection of fans.
The mysterious fan
Among all the fans, we found one very special one. The fan that belonged to Adellina Patti, known, as is quite usual, in the world of opera as “La Patti”.
We recommend seeing it and paying close attention to its details. We found signatures of composers, in their dedications to the famous singer giving us an idea of how important this diva was in her time.
We can see the signatures of Arrigo Boito, (famous for his opera librettos), of the composers Eduard Grieg, Manuel F. Caballero, Camile Saint-Saëns, Giacomo Puccini, of the famous and virtuoso violinist Pablo Sarasate and of the composer and father of the Musicology in Spain, Felip Pedrell. Puccini’s signature is even a fragment of a stave with some notes of a melody from the opera La Bohème.
The fan is in an Elizabethan style, from the mid-19th century and was acquired by Frederic Marès at auction in 1955.
Who was Adelina Patti?
Adelina Patti was born in Madrid, while her mother, the Italian singer Caterina Chiesa Barilli, was in the city in the role of Norma in the opera. Her father, also a renowned opera singer, was Salvatore Patti. In this musical environment, she immediately stood out as a child prodigy and was surrounded by professional musicians.
Her career began to take off when, at just 18 years old, she made her debut at London’s Covent Garden in the role of Amina in Bellini’s opera La Sonnambula. Her success was so great that she performed 25 consecutive seasons at the same theatre.
Over her career she appeared at the most famous and important opera theatres in the world, she even sang at the White House for President Abraham Lincoln. She was a great singer and also a woman who managed to be the highest paid singer at the time. At her peak, La Patti charged $5,000 in gold per performance. She even surpassed this figure on occasion, earning $500,000 per performance in the 1888-89 season.
Currently we are lucky that some of the sound files of her music have been preserved and are available through platforms such as YouTube. In this link you can hear what the voice of this great opera diva was like.
On your visit to the Gothic Quarter, we recommend that you seek outthis hidden gem, immerse yourself in curious objects that you will find at the Frederic Marès Museum Barcelona.
