Sin city

On the Rosary portal of the Sagrada Família, which leads from the Nativity facade into the cloister, a sculpture entitled the ‘Temptation of Man’ can be found. It depicts a worker dressed in overalls turning away from a demonic figure, which proffers an Orsini bomb. This particular type of bomb—an improvised explosive device—was used by anarchists throughout Europe in the latter half of the 19th century as a hand grenade. It is Barcelona’s connection to the Orsini bomb that undoubtedly inspired Gaudí’s interpretation of the ‘Temptation of Man’.

By the mid-19th century, rapid industrialisation had resulted in deep divisions across society. Class conflict had become frequent and furious in Barcelona, where anarchism was the political persuasion of the city’s workers. Almost four decades of sporadic, brutal attacks followed. The Orsini bomb became the weapon of choice for local anarchists, and the resulting violence soon earned Barcelona a reputation as the ‘City of Bombs’.

One of the most horrific attacks took place at the Liceu in November 1893. The opera house had become a showcase of Barcelona’s bourgeoisie, an institution that exemplified the unbalanced distribution of wealth in society and, therefore,a focus of class hatred. On November 7th, during the opening night of Rossini’s Guillaume Tell, tragedy shook the Liceu to its core.

As the second act of the opera commenced, a 32-year-old anarchist named Santiago Salvador threw two Orsini bombs from the highest stalls of the theatre into the audience below. An estimated 20 leading members of Barcelona’s elite were killed and 35 more were injured in the explosion. Although the second bomb never detonated, the attack provoked widespread panic amongst the bourgeoisie and was responded to with militarised repression of the city’s working class until Salvador was captured and executed.

The idea for the Sagrada Família was conceived by a wealthy Catalan bookseller and philanthropist named Josep María Bocabella i Verdaguer. Bocabella was eager to challenge the revolutionary climate of 19th-century Barcelona and construct a temple to expiate the sins of radical politics.

Gaudí, who became the church’s principal architect in 1883, had lived and worked during this tumultuous period of class conflict in Barcelona. The inclusion of a worker being tempted by an Orsini bomb is perhaps the architect’s parallel between the violent acts of the anarchists and evil. As a devout Catholic, it may be that Gaudí, like Bocabella, believed that the Sagrada Família could save the city from itself by religious redemption