Dioramas, models designed to be observed from a fixed point of view, performed the functions of today's digital 3D representations. This diorama was built by the renowned set designer and painter Josep Mestres Cabanes, who had extensive knowledge of the art of perspective and produced work rich in atmosphere and climate thanks to his mastery of the effects of light and depth. Mestres Cabanes built several dioramas for international exhibitions and trade fairs, including, particularly, twelve for the 1963 New York World’s Fair.

L’obra pintada a finals del segle XIX, és una de les poques obres conegudes i conservada en una col·lecció pública del pintor Pedro Vidal de Solares y Cárdenas qui es va relacionar amb els impressionistes francesos i molt en particular amb Renoir.

Portrait of a municipal guard
Registration number MHCB02896
Chronology: 1890
Author: Pedro Vidal de Solares y Cárdenas

The artist Achille Battistuzzi painted several vedutte of Barcelona, works that depict life in the Catalan capital in the nineteenth century very accurately. The restoration of this work from the MUHBA Collection enabled us to learn more about the grid used to position the elements in the scene.

Pla de la Boqueria. Oil on cardboard.
Registration number MHCB01055
Chronology: 1873
Author: Achille Battistuzzi

Restoration:
The vase, found during excavations, fragmented into six pieces and incomplete, is on show at the Plaça del Rei museum site. Restoration work enhanced the solidity and presentation of the piece. The fragments were joined together and the missing parts were reconstructed, at all times avoiding any intervention on the original pieces.

Glass vase
4^th Century
Origin: excavations in Carrer de la Ciutat, year 2007.
MHCB39676