page_title: Banner of Misericordia
section_title: Other works of Gaudi in Reus
hierarchical_section_title: Banner of Misericordia / Other works of Gaudi in Reus
caption_attribution_description: Español: Fotografía de la reconstrucción del estandarte de la Virgen de la Misericordia proyectado por Gaudí para la procesión de los reusences residentes en Barcelona al Santuario de la Misericordia de Reus en 1900 en estado de construcción en 2005. El proyecto de reconstrucción fue realizaddo por Joan Bassegoda Nonell, Bibiana Sciortino y Mario Andruet, arquitectos, en 2003. En la fotografía tomada en los Pabellones Güell de Barcelona, sede de la Cátedra Gaudí, Joan Bassegoda Nonell, Conservador del archivo de la Cátedra, Mario Andruet, investigador y colaborador de la Cátedra Gaudí y Enric Ferrer Solà, el artesano que realizó la reconstrucción. Foto Fundación Antonio Gaudí.
context_page_description: The banner of Misericordia is a work of the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí projected for the procession to the Sanctuary of Misericordia in Reus of the reusians residing in Barcelona, as one of the acts for the 1900 Holy Year. It is known by the two front and back photographs published in the Semanario Católico de Reus in July of that year. It included another photograph of the procession in which Gaudí is seen as part of a large group of pilgrims and the banner being carried by one of them.
  A previous issue of the same publication contains a description with references to the materials with which it was built. The banner remained in the sanctuary until July 1936, when it was destroyed in the events of the Spanish Civil War.
  Between 2003 and 2007 a project was carried to construct a replica based on the detailed study of the photographs, using the same materials and the same techniques as the original. The replica is currently exhibited in the crypt of the Sagrada Familia Temple in Barcelona.
context_section_description: Despite being very possibly his birthplace,  Reus does not preserve works of Gaudí, who would be one of its most illustrious sons. Although the architect presented a project of restoration and reform of the façade of the sanctuary of Misericordia as from the fervor awakened by the procession of 1900 and the ceremony of canonical coronation in 1904. This building of the 17th century was erected in the place where tradition places the appearance of the Virgin to Isabel Besora. However, for reasons not fully clarified, apparently by litigation with neighbours, the project was left out. Finally, the municipal architect began the work in 1915, although only the basement was made. In the Museu Comarcal de Reus (Reus regional museum) remain two sketches that Gaudí made of his project. In them they can be seen a baroque facade according to contemporary works such as Casa Calvet, and the treatment of the environment that included a monumental rosary along the access avenue.
  In 1976, in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Gaudí’s death the Reus City Council began the construction of a replica of the fountain-cascade of the Casa Vicens, which had been demolished in 1946. It was destined a site close to the "Gaudí" neighbourhood. The works were paralyzed in 1978 and without the construction being finished; it was demolished in 2002.
  The project of the banner and the restoration of the Sanctuary enter fully into the controversy over Gaudí's birthplace, which is disputed by  Reus and Riudoms. The paternal family was from Riudoms and his mother was of Reus, separated by a few kilometers. Gaudí's childhood was divided between these two villages, so it is likely to think that he felt himself a son of both.
caption: The replica of the banner under construction at Finca Güell. In the photo Joan Bassegoda Nonell, Mario Andruet and Enric Ferrer Solà (Photo: Antonio Gaudí Foundation)
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