Josep M. Subirachs | pains | Malta fever | Sagrada familia

Work was halted again by World War II, and architects did not begin on the western facade until 1954. They aimed to keep the "peeled, as if made of bones" look that Gaudí wanted when designing this facade in 1911, while he was enduring the pains of Malta fever. The Nativity facade faces east, to reflect the rising sun, and the Passion facade - the stone stories of Christ's Last Supper, betrayal, crucifixion, and burial - faces west, to reflect the setting sun. The sculptures here yield curves with flat and edged surfaces, which create faces with a linear sorrow that evoke sadness, as if the contours were ramps for the tears that come with the history-changing story of betrayal, agony, and sacrifice. The more angular, concave sculptures were created by Josep M. Subirachs, who has lived in the church since 1987, devoting his own style to Gaudí's Sagrada Familia. Subirachs, with his distinct sculptural style, asks visitors to follow an S path as their eyes look up the three levels of stone tableaus that portray pivotal moments from the last two days of Christ's life.

Beneath it all are central double doors with more than 8,000 letters melted in bronze and scriptures from the Last Supper, not in traditional Latin or national Spanish, but in Catalan, the local language that Gaudí spoke and put in his works.

I look up and see Christ and his crown of thorns hanging from a horizontal cross that is above him, not behind him, so it can be better seen from the ground. Teresa, my guide, says this is the only naked crucifixion sculpture in the world, and that for many weeks she couldn't take tours through because of the throngs of protesters.