Image: Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, Barcelona
The Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya has featured an online episode examining the “mysterious reverse” of a portrait by the modernist painter Isidre Nonell. The video, titled ‘El penediment d’Isidre Nonell’ (‘The Repentance of Isidre Nonell’), is part of the museum’s Canal +MNAC series ‘La ciència de l’art’ (‘The Science of Art’).
According to the episode description, the reverse side of the portrait serves as the starting point for a tragic story that would affect Nonell for the rest of his life. The museum’s published material does not provide further details about the portrait, the reverse, or the events explored in the film.
The episode is presented in the “Mira” section of Canal +MNAC, the museum’s digital platform for video content. The series is organised around investigations into works, artists and technical or historical questions connected with art. Other listed episodes address the journey of the marble from Sant Pere de Rodes, the reconstruction of ‘The Wounded Militiaman’, the darkness of Francisco de Zurbarán, a puzzle involving Sant Pere del Burgal and a secret associated with Quentin Latour.
Nonell is identified by the museum as a modernist painter. The available page offers no biography beyond that description and does not specify the date of the portrait, its current display status or the identity of the sitter. It likewise does not state whether the episode is connected to a temporary exhibition or an in-person programme.
The video is available through the Canal +MNAC website. The platform is associated with the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, whose listed address is the Palau Nacional in Barcelona’s Parc de Montjuïc. The museum’s promotional post for the episode was published on 25 August 2026, while no separate event dates are given.
