Miquel Barceló’s monumental and ephemeral work, Le Grand Verre de terre / Vidre de Meravelles, was presented in February 2016 on the glass windows of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (BnF). This 190 m long by 6 m high fresco was made in situ by scraping dry clay previously spread on the glass panes of the library’s inner courtyard.
This original technique was inspired by the Chauvet grotto in the south of France. Barceló stressed the importance of representing the individuality of each animal drawn in this ancient cave. It is not so much the technique that takes us to the imaginary of the cave, but rather the matter, and how that matter is transformed into image.
Through the different shades of transparency and cracks, the filtering light reveals the figures of animals and skeletons, and is projected onto the floor, the visitors and the space. 72 felines, 66 mammoths, 65 rhinoceroses, 40 horses, 25 reindeer, goats, 15 bears, 10 aurochs and 2 oxen – all seemed to dance in space.
