Generalitat
Contact the Generalitat5. Chapel of Sant Jordi
In 1548, the Chapel of Sant Jordi was moved to this floor and the gallery was opened onto the (then-new) Orange Tree Courtyard. The chapel was designed in the Flamboyant Gothic style on a square base and roofed with a rib vault. Inside are the figures of the four evangelists and the Catalan coat of arms with the cross of Saint George and the four red stripes of Catalonia. The exuberance and delicacy of the ornamental work carved into the stone make the façade the most spectacular part of the chapel.
The chapel also contains some excellent works of art: an altar cloth embroidered with the story of Saint George by Antoni Sadurní, a reliquary by Felip Ros dated from 1600 and a small statue of Saint George wearing a 15th-century suit of armour.
Frontispiece of the façade and portal of the Capella de Sant Jordi, by Marc Safont (1434).
Cross vault with rose window from the XVI century
Interior of the chapel
The Capella de Sant Jordi was also a project of Marc Safont's, following the decision of the Catalan Parliament meeting at Barcelona in 1432. With this chapel, the Master Builder completed in 1434 his task of beautifying the mediaeval palace.
The portal is flamboyant filigree work of mouldings and floral details, unusual elements in the austerity of Catalan Gothic.
Inside, the basic part of the chapel is a square space covered with a cross vault with the image of St. George beautifully sculptured in many colours at the key-stone of the vault and lit by a magnificent rose window opened in the XVI century.
This primitive chapel was presided over by two master-pieces, perhaps the most valuable conserved at the Palau: the sumptuous altar frontal embroidered in gold and silver, 1451 work by Antoni Sadurní, which tells the legend of the knight, St. George. At the ends of this frontal, pieces with Renaissance grotesques and shields of the Generalitat were added in the XVI century, as was the little silver statue of the patron saint, with Milanese jointed armour, dating from between 1420 and 1430.
Three centuries later, between 1738 and 1768, as can be seen from the Bourbon decorative symbols at the back, the chapel was extended with a new rectangular body crowned by a small cupola framed by four suspended capitals, like the one already mentioned at the corner of the main gallery. The front of the current altar was made by the jeweller Ramon Sunyer in 1956, and reproduces in silver the Gothic frontal of Antoni Sadurní described previously. In this part of the chapel, there are two Flemish tapestries by G. Pannemaker (XVIc.) depicting the history of Noah, and two huge candelabra dating from 1670..
History brought together major treasures in this chapel, but they have now all disappeared. In the sacristy, only a few holy items in metal and precious stones remain. Two reliquiaries containing relics of St. George are particularly worth mention: a silver Gothic reliquiary and one in the form of a pyramid by Felip Ros. Both date from the XVI century. The XVI century liturgical decorations are particularly valuable, with the most exquisite silver and gold embroidery.
