Gaudí’s lampposts in Plaça Reial
Gaudí’s first public commission: gas lamps with six arms and a winged helmet.
In 1878 the young Gaudí was commissioned by the city of Barcelona to design street lamps. Two of them still stand in the Plaça Reial, near the Rambla. They are the earliest of his works that everyone can see.
Materials: Cast iron, bronze, marble base
Manufacture: Post and arms cast in iron and bronze on a stone base; originally for gas.
The winged helmet on top – Mercury, god of commerce.
Six arms with lanterns, and serpents coiling round the post.