Compartments from an altarpiece dedicated to Saint Bernard of Clairvaux

Ferrer Bassa was the painter who introduced the modern Italianate Gothic style created by Giotto to the school of Barcelona, characterised by the smoothness of the shapes and the elegance and serenity of the artistic compositions. After his return from Italy in 1333, where he gained firsthand experience of the art of the master Giotto and the contemporary Tuscan and Sienese painters, from his workshop in Barcelona he carried out many commissions for the Catalan crown, the aristocracy and the Church. The most important work to have been conserved is the mural group from Saint Michael's Chapel in the cloister of the monastery of Pedralbes in Barcelona, with which these altarpiece compartments, conserved in the Museum, have been linked stylistically. In the top compartment we can see the figure of Saint Bernard kneeling, praying for a ship in danger to be saved. The bottom scene shows an exorcism; the saint in the act of blessing drives the devil out of the body of a woman kneeling.