Altarpiece of Alella

In a 1983 article on the centenary of this project, Joan Bassegoda Nonell explained its symbolism, based on the Apocalypse of St. John. The seven angels in the windows of the arch are described in Chapter 8, Verse 2: "I saw seven angels standing before God, to whom were given seven trumpets." In chapter 4 St. John expressed that he saw four beings -lion, bull, eagle and man- repeating day and night prayer: Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord Almighty, who was, who is and who will come. In each of the four columns of the altarpiece can be read nine times the word Sanctus, equivalent to four times three repetitions of the triple prayer symbolizing this way this passage of the Apocalypse. The central figure of the altar is the crucifixion with Christ in the cross and the Virgin and St. John at both sides composing the so-called Horizontal Trinity or Juanist Trinity. The group stands in front of the almond shaped form where rays of light emanate from the head of the Christ, forming the Elliptical Aura, a symbol of apotheosis and glory. Thus the whole assembly of the chapel and the altarpiece formed a direct symbolism of the crucifixion and the interpretation of passages of the Apocalypse of St. John. The invocation of the Sanctus had been used shortly before by Gaudí in the watercolor drawing of a reliquary, preserved in the Reus museum, and the following year he will repeat it in the stained glass windows of the crypt of the Sagrada Familia temple. Bassegoda remarks that the student gate for a cemetery that Gaudí projected in 1875 contained numerous apocalyptic symbols.

• Illustration — Furniture designed by Antoni Gaudí for the house that the Vicens family had in Alella. Gaudí befriended Manuel Vicens Montaner since the commission of the famous Casa Vicens of Barcelona. As a result, he spent many summers of the 1880s in the residence that the Vicens family had in Alella, at the Carrer de Dalt (today Anselm Clavé street). Gaudí designed two pieces of furniture that remained in this house for many years, while Mr. Vicens' daughter lived there: a wooden and metal corner fireplace currently displayed in the Casa Vicens, with a great sculpture on a slender pedestal. Written on metal plate are shown the initials M.V. of Manuel Vicens. The other piece of furniture is a hanging wooden corner cabinet decorated with gold metal inlays. The interior faces of the doors have shelves to optimize the functionality of the small furniture. It is currently in a private house in Barcelona. This piece of furniture shows the initials D.G., of Dolors Giralt, Mr. Vicens's wife. In the parish church of Alella there is another piece that can be attributed to Gaudí. It is the first section of the staircase of the romanesque bell tower, considered the most notable of its style in the coastal area of Catalonia, which received a modification in its initial section on the ground floor giving it curved shape with broken triangular floor steps so that each step allows to gain two heights, according to the Gothic system described and illustrated by Viollet-le-Duc that allows stairs with slopes of up to 45 degrees. Gaudí should be credited with having innovated on this scheme which applied only to straight stairs. By the same dates Gaudí was building a similar staircase in the stables of the Finca Güell, which seems to attribute to him that of the bell tower of Alella. Stairs with the same configuration were projected by Gaudí in the waterfall of the park of the Ciutadella in Barcelona when he collaborated with Joan Fontseré. In this case the structure was metallic, while the other two are made of bricks. Finally may be related the wrought iron cross next to the altar of the church of Alella, whose shape is similar to the one that Gaudí drew in the design of the altar of the Crucifixion (in the drawing it is suggested since it is covered by the arch), and attributed to the architect too.