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Storage Room insight: «Saint Francis in Ecstasy», by Joan Llimona
02 / 03 / 2026


This February, you can see the artwork Saint Francis in Ecstasy by Joan Llimona in the Storage Room insight, marking the centenary of the artist's death (February 23, 1926).

Joan Llimona, brother of the sculptor Josep Llimona, was one of the most important painters of Catalan Modernism. He abandoned his studies in architecture and engineering to train at the Llotja School in Barcelona and later in Rome, when he accompanied his brother after he was awarded a sculpture scholarship in the Italian capital.

From 1882 onwards, he participated in several group exhibitions in Barcelona, culminating in 1890 with an exhibition at the Sala Parés, which was met with extraordinary acclaim. In 1898, he painted the apotheosis of the Virgin of Montserrat, achieving one of the high points of Catalan modernist painting. The artwork presents a scene that uplifts the spirit through the harmonisation of nature, history, and the supernatural.

Throughout his artistic career, Llimona focused mainly on genre painting, and, as can be seen in the painting of the Camarín de la Virgen de Montserrat and in the artwork exhibited this February, also on religious themes. His art shows a slight influence of Italian art and is rich in symbolism.

In this way, he introduced a naturalism into Catalan art which, in contrast to the followers of Marià Fortuny, became a significant element of Modernism.