Port of Barcelona, by Achille Battistuzzi

painting Port Barcelona Achille Battistuzzi

[Drassanes Reials de Barcelona], Achille Battistuzzi, 1872

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Num. inventory: 3484

Object name: painting

Title: [Drassanes Reials de Barcelona]

Object date: 1872

Author: Achille Battistuzzi

Technique and material: oil on canvas.

Paintings

Oil on canvas from 1872 showing the port of Barcelona, where the Drassanes Reials especially stand out at the foot of Montjuïc mountain. This emblematic building on the city’s seafront is the protagonist of the painting. At the time Battistuzzi painted it, it was still being used by the military.

In the beginning, the Drassanes Reials were designed to be an arsenal of galleys. In other words, a place for building, repairing and maintaining ships, which explains the layout of the space. Nevertheless, the Drassanes were also used to store rigging, gear, weapons, supplies, etc. They continued to be used as an arsenal into the first half of the 18^th century, until the abolition of the Cos de Galeres or Galley Fleet in 1745. From then on, the building was dedicated to military uses, serving as a cannon foundry, barracks, arsenal and artillery park.