Barcelona

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Museu de Ceràmica & Museu de les Arts Decoratives

Palau Reial de Pedralbes, Avda Diagonal 686

These two collections – accessible, along with the Textile Museum, on the same ticket – are housed in the august Palau Reial; originally designed for the family of Eusebi Güell, Gaudí’s patron, it was later used as a royal palace. The Museum of Decorative Arts is informative and fun, and looks at the different styles informing the design of artefacts in Europe since the Middle Ages, from Romanesque to art deco and beyond. A second section is devoted to post-war Catalan design of objects as diverse as urinals and man-sized inflatable pens.

The Ceramics Museum is equally fascinating, showing how Moorish ceramic techniques from the 13th century were developed after the Reconquista with the addition of colours (especially blue and yellow) in centres such as Manises (in Valencia) and Barcelona. Two 18th-century murals are of sociological interest: one, La Xocolatada, shows the bourgeoisie at a garden party, while the other, by the same artist, depicts the working classes at a bullfight in the Plaza Mayor in Madrid. Upstairs is a section showing 20th-century ceramics, which includes a room dedicated to Miró and Picasso. The two museums, along with the Textile Museum and several smaller collections, are to be merged in the future in a Museu de Disseny (Design Museum) as part of the cultural overhaul of the Plaça de les Glòries.

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