Urbici Soler y Manonelles
Encyclopedia
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
on the cross atop Mount Cristo Rey in the El Paso
El Paso, Texas
El Paso, is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States, and lies in far West Texas. In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 649,121. It is the sixth largest city in Texas and the 19th largest city in the United States...
suburb of Sunland Park, New Mexico
Sunland Park, New Mexico
Sunland Park is a city in Doña Ana County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 14,106 at the 2010 census. Though it lies directly across from El Paso, Texas, being in Doña Ana County makes it instead a part of the Las Cruces Metropolitan Statistical Area, some 30 miles to the north.The...
which he completed in 1939 and which is a site of Roman Catholic pilgrimage.
Life
Urbici Soler was born on June 21, 1890 in Ferran, LleidaLleida (province)
thumb|250px|Monastery of [[Santa Maria de Bellpuig de les Avellanes]].Lleida is a province of north-eastern Spain, in the western part of the autonomous community of Catalonia. It is bordered by the provinces of Girona, Barcelona, Tarragona, Zaragoza and Huesca and the countries of France and...
, Spain
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...
, in the Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
region. He was a student of Pere Carbonell i Huguet. Soler also studied at night at the official school Casa Llotja in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
. In 1913, Soler became a student of Adolph von Hildebrand in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
. He completed his first monumental sculpture, Princess María de la Paz, in 1918, and also studied with Emile Antoine Bourdelle in Paris before returning to Spain, when he was called to South America. Soler's most important collection, The World, is a study of the native peoples of Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
, and South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
. The Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
prevented his return to Spain. In 1937 he was called to work on Christ the King.
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the fourth-largest city in the state and is the seat of . Santa Fe had a population of 67,947 in the 2010 census...
. Neither marriage was successful. He then moved to New Orleans, California, New York, and South America in 1943, returning to El Paso in 1945 to attempt further work on Christ the King, and joined the faculty of the Texas School of Mines, now called the University of Texas at El Paso
University of Texas at El Paso
The University of Texas at El Paso is a four-year state university, and is a component institution of the University of Texas System. Its campus is located on the bank of the Rio Grande in El Paso, Texas. The school was founded in 1914 as The Texas State School of Mines and Metallurgy,...
. He became a US citizen in 1949. Soler built a house at the foot of Mount Cristo Rey in Anapra, New Mexico (now part of Sunland Park) and lived there until his death on January 15, 1953. The Texas Historical Commission placed a marker at his gravesite in Evergreen Cemetery in El Paso
El Paso, Texas
El Paso, is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States, and lies in far West Texas. In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 649,121. It is the sixth largest city in Texas and the 19th largest city in the United States...
in 1984.
The statue Christ the King
The statue Christ the King was inspired by a papal call for mementos of the 1900th anniversary of the coming of Christ. The project was begun at the behest of Father Lourdes Costa, pastor of the Smeltertown parish, which covered both the New MexicoNew Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
and the Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
sides of the Rio Grande
Rio Grande
The Rio Grande is a river that flows from southwestern Colorado in the United States to the Gulf of Mexico. Along the way it forms part of the Mexico – United States border. Its length varies as its course changes...
. Costa got funding from the Diocese of El Paso to purchase 200 acres (80.9 ha) from the New Mexico Public Land Office for the statue, and to build a cross. Costa first erected a wood cross, then a steel cross built by the efforts of the Smeltertown parish, on the summit of Cerro de Muleros (now called Mount Cristo Rey), the northernmost peak of the Juarez Mountains, located on the border of the United States and Mexico. Costa, like Soler, was Catalan
Catalan people
The Catalans or Catalonians are the people from, or with origins in, Catalonia that form a historical nationality in Spain. The inhabitants of the adjacent portion of southern France are sometimes included in this definition...
, and Soler stayed with him while working on the statue.
The statue is 40 feet (12.2 m) tall including a 9 feet (2.7 m) base and is composed of concrete, steel and Cordovan cream limestone which was quarried near Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
. The blocks were chosen by Soler and winched up the mountain. Soler carved it on-site with an air chisel. The head of the statue is elongated so that the figure appears of natural proportions when viewed from below. The statue is not technically a crucifix, as the palms of Christ face downward in a gesture of blessing. The statue was completed in 1939 and dedicated in 1940. The diocese ran short of money, but Soler completed the front of the statue with his own funds.
Works by Soler
- Cabeza de Estudio (1907)
- Princess María de la Paz (1918)
- The World, 1920s - 1940s, a collection of studies of native peoples
- Charlotte Dahmen Chao (1925)
- Diego RiveraDiego RiveraDiego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez was a prominent Mexican painter born in Guanajuato, Guanajuato, an active communist, and husband of Frida Kahlo . His large wall works in fresco helped establish the Mexican Mural Movement in...
(1931), sandstone - Abelardo Rodríguez (1932)
- Enrique González MartínezEnrique González MartínezEnrique González Martínez was a Mexican poet, diplomat, surgeon and obstetrician. His poetry is considered to be primarily Modernist in nature, with elements of French symbolism....
(1934) - Cristo Rey (1939), limestone
- Tom LeaTom LeaTom Lea may refer to:* Thomas Calloway Lea, Jr., Mayor of El Paso, Texas, for the term, father of Tom Lea, and first cousin of Homer Lea...
(1946) bronze - Fresia (1946), hardwood
- Mater Dolorosa (1950), modernist
External links
- Bernice Zuniga & Terri Fout, King on the Mountain
- Paul Daniggelis, "Urbici Soler", Handbook of Texas Online [Paul Daniggelis, "Rodant Pel Mon", International Association for the Visual Arts, 1995, El Paso]