Manuel Vilar
by Felipe Sojo (1833-1869)
Manuel Vilar i Roca (15 November 1812, Barcelona - 25 November 1860, Mexico City) was a Catalan sculptor, in the Romantic style.[1]
Biography[]
His first studies were at the Escola de la Llotja, with Damià Campeny. In 1833, with a grant from the Board of Commerce, he went to Rome where he studied with and was an assistant in the workshops of Pietro Tenerani. He also received advice from Bertel Thorvaldsen and was influenced by the Nazarene movement.
Upon his return to Spain, he became an instructor at the Escola. He served in that position until 1845, when he and the painter Pelegrí Clavé received offers of employment in Mexico. There, he became the head of the sculpture classes at the Academia de San Carlos.[2]
During his tenure, he insisted on the rigorous study of anatomical models, the sketching of classical examples, practicing on blocks of marble, making plaster castings, and modelling with clay. He worked with religious and historical subjects, as well as the classics, which included themes from the Pre-Hispanic history of Mexico. Although his style owed much to Romanticism, he also introduced elements of Realism; giving his work an eclectic character.[1]
His early works, in Barcelona, focused on Biblical and mythological subjects; including Jason stealing the golden fleece and the trial of Daniel in Babylon.[2] His specifically Mexican subjects include Moctezuma, La Malinche, Iturbide and Tlahuicole, as well as numerous busts; notably Lucas Alamán and Antonio López de Santa Anna. He also created a statue of San Carlos Borromeo, which may be seen on the patio of the Academia.[1]
He died of pneumonia, aged only forty-eight, and was interred at the , where his students created a monument in his memory.[1]
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d Alberto Espinosa, La Renovación de la Real Academia de San Carlos: Manuel Vilar y Pelegrín Clavé, @ Terranova
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Manuel Vilar". Gran Enciclopedia Catalana (in Catalan). Barcelona.
Further reading[]
- Salvador Moreno, El escultor Manuel Vilar, Instituto de Investigaciones Estéticas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 1969
- José Rogelio Álvarez, "Vilar, Manuel", in: Enciclopedia de México, 2005 ISBN 978-1-56409-074-4
- "Vilar, Manuel", in: Diccionario Porrúa de historia, biografía y geografía de México, Vol.2, Editorial Porrúa, 1970
External links[]
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- 1812 births
- 1860 deaths
- Sculptors from Catalonia
- Mexican sculptors
- Male sculptors
- Spanish emigrants to Mexico
- Academy of San Carlos
- People from Barcelona