Ramon Llull

In 1865, the brothers Venanci Vallmitjana (Barcelona, 1826-1919) and Agapit Vallmitjana (Barcelona, 1833-1905) were selected to execute the large sculptures in the main entrance hall. The Vallmitjana brothers were given two-and-a-half years to fulfil the commission and they nearly met the deadline. Ultimately, however, the completed sculptures were not set in their niches until the term of rector Estanislau Reynals (1875-1876).

Five distinguished figures who were representative of Spanish culture prior to the sixteenth century were selected to reflect a variety of nationalities, ideologies and branches of knowledge. Ramon Llull, an emblematic figure of Catalan and Majorcan culture in the thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries, was chosen for his intellectual and scientific prestige.