On 3rd July 1541, Pere Creixell and Benet Gros, the town’s jurors, agreed to commission the painters Pere Serafí (The Greek) and Jaume Fontanet to produce a reredos for our church in accordance with the stipulated conditions. In principle, the reredos was supposed to be similar to the Gothic style but ended up adopting a form more in keeping with the Renaissance.
It was established that the reredos would have five vertical sections. The even sections include paintings representing scenes from the Passion, others depicting the martyrdom of Saint Romanus, ordered by Judge Asclepiades under the mandate of Diocletian, and, last of all, paintings devoted to the Virgin Mary. The odd sections are devoted to images of the saints. The sections are separated by columns.
The panels displayed in the baptistery of Sant Romà Church are the 9 that have been preserved from the old reredos and cover two themes: the life of Jesus Christ (5) and the life of Saint Romanus (4). The paintings that represent scenes from the Passion were placed on the lower section of the reredos, in the form of a predella, separated by images of the apostles, 8 in total.
Pere Serafí was commissioned to paint the reredos panels and also contributed to painting the sculptural images, while Jaume Fontanet was responsible for gilding the reredos, applying fine gold to all the architectural elements that compose the carved work.
The architectural structure and carving work was completed in 1546. The next stage was the painting and gilding work, which must have been completed in around 1555. However, no doubt due to some late payments, it was not until 12th October 1559 that Pere Serafí and Jaume Fontanet signed the last receipt for the work of the main reredos of the parish of Sant Romà in Lloret de Mar.