This exhibition is part of a partnership with the Fundación Mapfre in Madrid, taking advantage of the refurbishing work in the Romanesque Art permanent exhibition rooms, which will be closed from 15 November 2010 to the beginning of summer 2011.

It consists of a selection of about 60 works from the Museu Nacional chosen for their artistic quality with the object of presenting all the main techniques and subject matter of Romanesque art. In fact, this is the first time such a significant selection of works from this magnificent collection has been shown outside Catalonia, except for the exhibition held in Paris in 1937, at the height of the Spanish Civil War.

The visit is arranged in five sections, each followed by a presentation, which illustrate, first of all, the work as applied to architecture (mural paintings, stone carvings), and secondly, the work connected with the furnishings and other objects used in the liturgy (painted panels, wood carvings, precious metalwork and enamels).

To conjure up the setting for mural paintings, a reproduction of the paintings of an apse in Sant Quirze de Pedret is being prepared. There are also plans to include a virtual 3-D reproduction of the portal of Ripoll made in 2008.

Amongst the works that will travel to Madrid for the exhibition is the fragment of the Lapidation of Saint Stephen, from Sant Joan de Boí, the Batlló Majesty and a fragment of the mural paintings from the monastery of San Pedro de Arlanza.

The exhibition catalogue contains articles by specialists in the field, an inventory section, ample bibliography and other documentary sections.