Mariano Benlliure
Encyclopedia
Mariano Benlliure was a Spanish sculptor, who executed many public monuments and religious sculptures in Spain
, working in a heroic realist style.
He was born in El Grau quarter of Valencia. His earliest sculptures featured bullfighting themes, modeled in wax and cast in bronze. At the age of thirteen he showed a wax modello
of a picador
at the Exposición Nacional de Bellas Artes, 1876. Pursuing the thought of becoming a painter, he went to Paris his expenses paid by his master, Domingo Marquès. A trip to Rome in 1879, revealing at first hand the sculptures of Michelangelo
convinced him to be a sculptor. In 1887 he established himself permanently in Madrid, where in that year's Exposición Nacional his portrait sculpture of the painter Ribera won him a first-prize.
Benlliure's style is characterized by detailed naturalism allied to an impressionistic
spontaneity. His portrait busts and public monuments are numerous, and include:
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, working in a heroic realist style.
He was born in El Grau quarter of Valencia. His earliest sculptures featured bullfighting themes, modeled in wax and cast in bronze. At the age of thirteen he showed a wax modello
Modello
A modello, from the Italian, is a preparatory study or model, usually at a smaller scale, for a work of art or architecture, especially one produced for the approval of the commissioning patron. The term gained currency in art circles in Tuscany in the fourteenth century. Modern definitions in...
of a picador
Picador
A picador is one of the pair of horsemen in a Spanish bullfight that jab the bull with a lance. They perform in the tercio de varas which is the first of the three stages in a Spanish bullfight.The picador has three main functions:...
at the Exposición Nacional de Bellas Artes, 1876. Pursuing the thought of becoming a painter, he went to Paris his expenses paid by his master, Domingo Marquès. A trip to Rome in 1879, revealing at first hand the sculptures of Michelangelo
Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni , commonly known as Michelangelo, was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art...
convinced him to be a sculptor. In 1887 he established himself permanently in Madrid, where in that year's Exposición Nacional his portrait sculpture of the painter Ribera won him a first-prize.
Benlliure's style is characterized by detailed naturalism allied to an impressionistic
Impressionism
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s...
spontaneity. His portrait busts and public monuments are numerous, and include:
- the tomb of Práxedes Mateo SagastaPráxedes Mateo SagastaPráxedes Mariano Mateo Sagasta y Escolar was a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister on eight occasions between 1870 and 1902—always in charge of the Liberal Party—as part of the turno pacifico, alternating with the Liberal-Conservative leader Antonio Cánovas...
in the Pantheon of Illustrious MenPantheon of Illustrious MenThe Pantheon of Illustrious Men is a royal site in Madrid, under the administration of the Patrimonio Nacional. It was designed by Spanish architect Fernando Arbós y Tremanti, and is located in Basilica of Nuestra Señora de Atocha in the Retiro section of Madrid.The pantheon houses the tombs of a...
, Madrid - monument to José de San MartínJosé de San MartínJosé Francisco de San Martín, known simply as Don José de San Martín , was an Argentine general and the prime leader of the southern part of South America's successful struggle for independence from Spain.Born in Yapeyú, Corrientes , he left his mother country at the...
, Lima, Peru - a bronze memorial to María Cristina de Borbón, Madrid
- the bronze equestrian statue of Alfonso XII of SpainAlfonso XII of SpainAlfonso XII was king of Spain, reigning from 1874 to 1885, after a coup d'état restored the monarchy and ended the ephemeral First Spanish Republic.-Early life and paternity:Alfonso was the son of Queen Isabella II of Spain, and...
, in Madrid's Buen Retiro Park, the centerpiece of a memorial designed by architect José Grases RieraJosé Grases RieraJosé Grases Riera was a Catalan architect.Born in Barcelona, Grases graduated from the School of Architecture in Barcelona in 1878 and moved to Madrid shortly after...