The Passion Façade
"If I had begun constructing this building with this façade people would have distanced from this work." Gaudi gave this statement for not starting the Sagrada Familia with the portal of the Suffering Way. A proof of what a dramatic impression he wanted to awaken.Gaudí designed the portal during a serious illness in 1911.The last weeks of life of Jesus were told. The figures remind of the expressionism, one of Gaudí's favorite art direction. The pillars of the canopy are reminiscent of bones. The facade and the portal were not finished in Gaudí's lifetime.In 1988, the sculptor Josep Maria Subirachs was delegated with the task of creating the sculptures. He worked on THE BASIS OF preserved drawings Gaudí's. This began with the execution in 1989. At a scene with three levels of images the sculptor shows the story of suffering Way from the last Supper to the death of Jesus. Subirachs, whose style is characterized by sharp edges, has defined a sequence of images in the form of an inverted S.The figures are edged and Subirachs gives riddles to the viewer to solve, e.g. the magic square, its sum always is 33 - the age of Jesus at his death. Other interpretations are possible.