The Great Day of Girona

The Great Day of Girona, originally El gran dia de Girona (Catalan pronunciation: [əl ˈɣɾan ˈdi.ə ðə ʒiˈɾonə]), is a large oil painting (4.96 × 10.82 m) by Ramon Martí Alsina depicting an important victory of Girona's defenders over the French during the Third Siege of Girona in 1809. Completed in 1864, it is the largest easel painting in the history of Catalan art. The creation process took more than 10 years and led the artist nearly to financially ruin on several occasions. The painting became part of the collection of the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, and it is on permanent display in the Girona in an auditorium of the Catalan Government building. Due to the large size of the work, scholars suggest that it may have been an effort to compete with Marià Fortuny's Battle of Tetuan, a work commissioned by the council of Barcelona regarding the African War. In 1938 during the Spanish Civil War, the painting was damaged during a bombardment while on exhibit at the Palau de les Belles Arts (Palace of the Fine Arts). To protect it from further damage, the work was rolled up and stored in the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (MNAC). Seventy years after its deposit, the painting was restored between 2009 and 2010.