Chapter 8: The Crypt of Colonia Güell - Excerpt

1897

One of Barcelona’s most famous architects found himself spending more and more time at his new studio. Located in the recently finished crypt of the Sagrada Familia, Antoni Gaudí had moved there to save on the cost of renting a work space and to take advantage of the sunlight that flooded through the windows placed high on the white stone walls. Providing him with enough natural light to work from sun-up to sun-set without the benefit of lamps or candles, the crypt’s completion could not have come at a better time. The lack of donations for the church’s continued construction meant he didn’t have the money to spend on such frivolous expenses like lighting or rent for a studio. In fact, since he had taken on the commission fourteen years ago, he rarely had money for anything anymore. But he didn’t care.

The Sagrada Familia wasn’t meant for some wealthy industrialist or member of the Spanish royal family, but for a client with an endless amount of patience and whose reward would be greater than anything money could buy - the Lord Almighty. And, as such, it was to be the last great sanctuary of Christendom with eighteen soaring towers and three intricately carved façades that would trace the entire history of Christ from his birth to his death to his resurrection.

Building it had become an obsession. Visions came to him during the day or night, alone or with friends. More than mere flashes of inspiration, designs and ideas took shape in his mind like a jig-saw puzzle slowly coming together to form a vivid and clear picture. During these moments, his skin tingled and warmed as the Holy Spirit possessed him, filling him with a consuming fire to sketch until the Lord’s designs were realized on thin cardboard, breaking the rapturous trance. Once finished with these drawings, he taped them to the walls of the studio to serve as a constant reminder of the perfection to which God made him aspire.