Can Rovira mural
This mural represents the popular legend called Les estovalles de Can Rovira (Can Rovira tablecloth), which explains how the Rovira family managed to live in abundance over several generations. It also reflects some of the most characteristic features of the town. It was painted by two local artists, Josep Nogué and Ester Polo, alongside with Bet, an artist from Arbúcies.
In the past, on Corpus Christi Day, the most important place was the altar in Can Rovira, dominated by some old, yellowed tablecloths which were the guarantee of the wealth and prosperity of Can Rovira. Those tablecloths are said to be the virtue of undoing storms if they were laid out when a storm was approaching. In order to keep this virtue, the tablecloths had to be blessed every Holy Saturday.
Taking advantage of the location of the mural, they wanted to create an image based on the well-known traditional legend.
The mural illustrates the moment when the heir of Can Rovira (or whoever who, moved by the greed of having their properties, dared to take them) took the magical tablecloths of the abundance.
The difficulty of that fact is reflected in the obvious disproportion between the elements of the table and the daring who wants them; the difficulty increased by the vigilance of a sentinel and the armat helmet (Roman soldiers typical helmet) as well as being reference of the utility of Can Rovira.
Predictable tragedy which will remain postponed, petrified. Thanks to the “magic” (the tablecloths) of the image, an ephemeral instantaneous action will be suspended in time and space, denying gravity: wine, bread, a bottle, a napkin… will not reach the ground while the elements supporting them retain their structure, also ephemeral, although at a different tempo.
The glass ball will always have the image of the building itself, as long as it can. So the elements are what they are and not what they represent, that is to say, the same as long as prosperity keeps them.
In terms of shapes, it was decided to combine two opposing points of view: the aerial view of the table, and that of the spectator who is in the square. This allows the spectator to look at the mural wherever they want. The fact that the image of the profile coincides with the ones of the building, apart from giving the mural some volume, allows us another reading: the whole image can be seen as a wrapped building, the same style used by the artist Christo Javacheff.
