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Girona Art Museum

The Siege of Girona in 1890 (sketch)

The Siege of Girona in 1809 (sketch), Ramon Martí Alsina, c. 1859. Oil on canvas, 47 x 84.5 cm. Girona Art Museum - Girona Provincial Council Art Collection.

The Siege of Girona in 1809 (sketch), Ramon Martí Alsina, c. 1859. Oil on canvas, 47 x 84.5 cm. Girona Art Museum - Girona Provincial Council Art Collection.

To create El gran dia de Girona (1859), which is probably the largest painting ever executed by a Catalan artist (540 × 1,190 cm), Ramon Martí Alsina made at least six preparatory sketches.

The painting, which today hangs in the Auditori Josep Irla in the current headquarters of the Delegació del Govern de la Generalitat in Girona, depicts the events of September 19 1809 when, during the siege of the city, the French troops attacked the walls only for the people of Girona to repel them.

The sketch is full of life and colour, in contrast to the stiffness and academicism of the final work.

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