Jacint Verdaguer i Santaló

A Romantic writer and poet, and a representative of the 19th century Catalan revivalist movement known as the Renaixença, his work was present in the production of some of the artists linked to Modernisme. The most direct relationship between the poet and Modernisme is with the architect A. Gaudí, who took his inspiration straight from the description of the Garden of the Hesperides in J. Verdaguer´s poem L´Atlàntida (Atlantis) for the renovation work on Pavellons Güell, a property belonging to E. Güell, (1884-1887; Avinguda de Pedralbes, 7; currently one of the three centres of Modernisme in Barcelona). On the so-called Porta del Drac (Dragon´s Gate) at the entrance there is the mythological dragon of thepoem and beside it the orange tree that is also described in it. New editions of L´Atlàntida were produced during this period and the illustrations were made by artists that were part of the Modernista current, for example, J. Xiró.