Between 1903 and 1915 Gaudí worked on the reform of the Gothic cathedral in Palma de Mallorca. The building had some damage to the façade caused by an earthquake, which added to functional problems such as the location of the choir in the center of the nave and the unfinished state of several stained glass windows that were blinded, gave impetus to the initiative of Bishop Pere Campins.
When he visited Gaudí, he was vividly impressed by his ideas in accordance with the liturgical reform, very advanced for the time, which he knew through his religious friends, especially Bishop Grau, for whom he built the altar in the chapel of the college of Jesús-María de Tarragona (1880-1884) and the Episcopal Palace of Astorga (1887-1893). Campins was a figure aligned with a new conception of the church, more open to society in accordance with the times. He worked in the conservation of heritage and was a promoter of the creation of ecclesiastical museums. On March 7, 1902, the Cathedral Chapter commissioned Gaudí with the liturgical restoration of the Cathedral.
The project was drawn up in 1903 after several visits to Palma. It included the transfer of the Gothic choir to the presbytery in order to free up the space of the central nave for the faithful and thus adapt it to the new liturgical forms, and remove the two main altarpieces, the Gothic and the Baroque, leaving on view the thirteenth century episcopal chair. Gaudí made a wooden model of the project, not preserved.
The walls of the presbytery were decorated with polychrome ceramic pieces with the shields of the bishops of Mallorca and representations of olive branches composing hexagonal figures. 7 votive lamps above the chair represent the spirits in front of the throne of God mentioned in the Apocalypse. To improve the interior lighting conditions, the opening of the stained glass windows that were closed with masonry was projected, and the main altar was moved to a more advanced position to make room for the choir stalls. A 7-sided canopy with a large crucifix and rounded hanging lamps was suspended from the vault. This set was completed by lighting fixtures, elaborate railings made up of chains and wrought iron pieces with the shields of Mallorca and Aragon and various iron and wood liturgical furniture. When advancing the altar, the Renaissance pulpits were relocated. Gaudí projected screens to be put on them to amplify the sound, of which only one was built.
The set of stained glass windows in the presbytery had to represent the “Regina” invocations of the Lauretian litany. As is well known, the color formation system that Gaudí applied was trichromy with three superimposed crystals, a deep naturalistic concept that makes sunlight itself the agent that forms tones. The artists Ivo Pascual, Jaime Llongueras and Joaquín Torres García collaborated in the design.
The chapel of the Trinity located at the apse, until then covered by the two altarpieces, was opened to locate there the tombs of the Mallorcan kings Jaume II and Jaume III. The proposal that included the construction of the sarcophagi under the side arches of the chapel remained without completion. It is known for its models, a preserved Gaudí drawing and others made by his successor in the works. Years later the tombs were executed with a new project and recumbent sculptures by Frederic Marès. Historical-patriotic ideas were in Gaudí’s mind since the proposal to restore the Monastery of Poblet, made with two friends in his youth in which, as he would in Mallorca, he proposed a tribute to the kings buried there.
It was planned to preside the chapel with a symbolic sculpture composed of the dove of the Holy Spirit, and on both sides the Father and the Son. The image of the Virgin recovered from the Gothic altarpiece would be placed in the center. The hanging canopy that was arranged over the main altar has an inclination that allows the vision of the Virgin and the Trinity to be seen from the entrance, framed by this symbolic element that represents the 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit. Outside, the cathedral roofs were to be reformed, where pinnacles and a bell tower would be built. For this work, Gaudí had the collaboration of Joan Rubió. The by then young architect Josep Maria Jujol had an important participation in the decorative matters, especially in the decoration of the presbytery where the creative freedom that Gaudí granted him caused some friction with the canons.
A large part of this ambitious program came to fruition in 12 years of work until Gaudí in 1914 had differences with the builders and some members of the council. After the death of Bishop Campins the following year, he definitively left the work and Rubió remained in charge until a new architect was designated. 6 of the 9 projected stained glass windows, part of the furniture, the roofs and the royal tombs, remained pending.
We know from testimonies that Gaudí was an avid reader of Viollet-le-Duc, a highly influential restorative architect. This project is part of the romantic trend of intervention in the unfinished cathedrals extended during the 19th century, among whose most notable examples are those of Cologne, Florence and Barcelona. The restoration of Mallorca goes far beyond a reinterpretation of the forms of the time since it constitutes an application of concepts of liturgical reform.
Gaudí also carried out some minor works during his stays on the island, such as the reforms to the gallery on the south façade of the episcopal palace of Palma, of which a stone pinnacle and battlements, some iron bars and a stained glass window in the private chapel can be seen. He is also credited with designing the pavement of the church of Nostra Senyora dels Àngels in Pollença, which Ramón Picó Campamar, the secretary of Eusebi Güell who was a native of that town, would have entrusted to him. It has been suggested that he would be the author of the house “Villa Alegre”, many years ago dissapeared, owned by a friend of Güell, markedly inspired by the forms of Park Güell, and his participation as advisor to Joan Rubió in the reforms in the Lluch Monastery.
In any case, his great work in Mallorca was the restoration of the Cathedral, a project unfortunately not fully implemented, which combined technique, historical knowledge, sensitivity, ability to recycle and mastery of religious art and liturgy.