Popular art. The painted tiles.

Even though the decoration with painted tiles is quite common in Mallorca, it is not exclusive to the island. In fact, the origins of the painted tiles are to be found outside Mallorca. This decorative technique possibly originates from the architectural decorations found in different buildings which were already applied to the eaves in classic civilizations.
The island of Mallorca is a good example with regards to the use of painted tiles, not only because of the great number of buildings that still preserve them but also due to the great number and variety of images they present and the documentation that can be found in the inscriptions on many of the tiles.
With regards to the chronology of the techique, the custom of decorating the eaves grew rapidly during the 16th century.
Qualitatively and quantitatively, the largest number of buildings with painted tiles are located in the Valley of Sóller. In fact, Sóller with 56 buildings and Fornalutx with 28 are the two municipalities with the largest number of registered buildings with painted tiles on their eaves. The tiles contain compositions of complex drawings, mainly in red, consisting of geometrical and plant motifs, everyday elements, anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figures and religious images.
The tiles were painted in the building site and it was a simple decorative process. They were wetted and introduced in a lime mortar, the wider side going in first. The tiles were painted using the flat painting technique without perspective and limiting the drawings to the outline of the objects, sometimes with details inside the figures, or the entire silhoutte.
Besides the decorative value of the tiles, they had a symbolic value because one of the objectives was to preserve and protect the house and its dwellers from any kind of external attacks.