These paintings, which date back to the XIV century, were hidden under the coatings on the surface of the ceiling. The restorer, Merce Marquez, mentioned that “during the reconstruction, we noticed certain strokes and circularities in the paintings that couldn’t have dated back to 1929, the year the building was constructed.” Specialists then managed to place the date of the paintings’ creation between 1369 and 1373. “In this case, we were dealing with the original embellishments on the wooden ceiling of the Gothic mayor’s office building,” notes Reinald Gonzalez, the historian participating in the restoration process.
The newly discovered ornamentation is really quite unique, since “nothing quite like it has been found before.” The specialists also were amazed at the extremely high quality of the color preservation. “Red and yellow colors, so typical of that epoch, show up even under the brown shades.” Frescos were found in four different parts of the ceiling under the modern decorative elements. As noted previously, the history of these paintings traces all the way to the XIV century. As Janet Sanz, the 4th deputy mayor of Barcelona claims, now “work is being conducted to preserve the newly uncovered treasures and make them available to the general public.”