Pere de Coma
Encyclopedia
Romanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...
in the Catalan
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
city of Lleida
Lleida
Lleida is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital city of the province of Lleida, as well as the largest city in the province and it had 137,387 inhabitants , including the contiguous municipalities of Raimat and Sucs. The metro area has about 250,000 inhabitants...
.
His background is nowadays unknown. However, it was been suggested by scholars such as Roca Florejachs (1911) that his origins lay in Lombardy
Lombardy
Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...
, while other scholars (Lladonosa. 1970 ) hint at northern Catalan comarques
Comarques of Catalonia
This is a list of the comarques of Catalonia . A comarca is roughly equivalent to a US "county" or a UK "district". However, in the context of Catalonia, the term "county" can be a bit misleading, because in medieval Catalonia, the most important rulers were counts, notably the Counts of Barcelona...
such as Ribagorça or Solsonès
Solsonès
Solsonès is a comarca in Catalonia, Spain. It is part of historic county of Urgell. Over 60% of its people live in the capital, Solsona.- Municipalities :Populations are for 2001.* Castellar de la Ribera - pop. 153* Clariana de Cardener - pop. 151...
. He's known to have established in Lleida by 1180, when he acquired property in the Sant Joan quarter of the city. In 1193 he asked Gombau de Camporrells, bishop of Lleida
Bishop of Lleida
A list of bishops of Lleida.*Itxió 203*Sant Filó 227*Joan 230*Pere 258*Màrius Seli 259*Sant Lleir 268-311*Diperdió 313*Amili 380*Prudenci 400*Atanasi 413*Saguici 413*Jacobo 419*Seberí 460*Fortunat 517*Pere 519*Andreu 540*Februari 546...
, for permission to work in the Seu Vella as a master builder. In 1203 he was hired to direct the construction of this cathedral, where he worked for almost twenty years. He built it on top of the mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
which had been in use during the time Lleida had belonged to Al Andalus. and a former, smaller Christian church. There is some scholarly dispute on whether De Coma had been hired to make the former church into a larger temple (Lladonosa, 1970 ) or to design a brand new one (Lacoste, 1975 ).
Pere de Coma's work in the Seu Vella was complemented by that of members of the so-called Lleida school of eclectic Romanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...
, who were of Moorish origin, and were in charge of most of the cathedral's decoration. Pere de Coma's main structure for the Seu Vella was kept at all times, including in the following century when Gothic
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
elements were added everywhere. He was succeeded in the direction of works by a relative, one Berenguer de Coma, who was granted a statica domorum from the late Pere.
He died at Lleida.
Sources
- Xavier Barral i Altet (2002), Les Catedrals de Catalunya, BarcelonaBarcelonaBarcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, Edicions 62. ISBN 84-297-5267-6