Gaudí the Man – Reflections on Spiritual and Social Life
Antoni Gaudí's personal beliefs shaped not only his life but also his work, particularly his devotion to the construction of the Sagrada Família. This text, written by Gaudí, reveals his thoughts on the human condition, the role of faith, and the inevitable confrontation with death. Here, we offer a reflection on Gaudí’s profound insights and how they relate to his architectural vision.
In this piece, Gaudí reflects on the challenges of fame, the loss of close friends, and his spiritual solitude. After the deaths of his patron Count Güell and his friend Doctor Torras i Bages, Gaudí dedicated himself fully to the Sagrada Família, retreating from the world and immersing himself in the project. His words emphasize the fleeting nature of worldly success, the importance of faith, and the acceptance of mortality.
Spiritual and social life
Artists let themselves be taken by vanity because they are authors of a piece of glory; but what they must do is try to create that which is true glory and to satisfy the spirit itself, without attempting short lived successes.
The man without religion is a spiritually devoid man, a mutilated man.
Dead also is Maragall, a friend, and, shortly after, my dear patron count Güell and the much-loved Doctor Torras i Bages, so I submerged myself in the most complete solitude: “My great friends are dead; I have neither family, nor clients, nor for-tune, nor anything. Thus I can totally devote myself to the Temple of the Sagrada Família.
The only fertile approach is that of repetition: in Beethoven we see themes recovered from 10 years previously, in Bach the same, Verdaguer repeated, copied and always quoted his own poetry.
When advised to get new clothes, I replied: “If it is well sewn, I will take it; to go dirty or deshe-veled I could not tolerate, but, to seem poor gives me equality. Contemplating Jesus Christ: He it was who, because of love for us, became truly poor!”.Thought is not free, but a slave to Truth. Freedom is not something of thought, but of will.
Those who do not act correctly do not want to think about death, and for that reason want it remote from time. Without thinking about death there is no good in life, neither in a moral or physical sense.
Gaudí.
Gaudí’s view on vanity is clear—he warns artists not to seek temporary glory, but to focus on creating works that satisfy the spirit. His life exemplified this belief, as he abandoned social recognition to concentrate on the Sagrada Família. Gaudí’s profound spirituality is also evident, describing a man without religion as incomplete. For him, faith was essential, not only to his personal life but also to his work, which sought to express divine beauty.
Gaudí also reflects on death and its role in life. He suggests that avoiding thoughts of death leads to a lack of moral and physical good in life. This belief mirrors the symbolism in his architecture, where elements like the rising towers of the Sagrada Família seem to reach toward the eternal.
