Querol in his workshop - 1892
To achieve great things before the age of 50, you need a very positive attitude and the belief that you can achieve everything you set out to do.
Report by Karla Ingleton Darocas (KarlaDarocas.com)
This was the case with the neoclassical sculptor Agustín Querol y Subirats (Tortosa, 1860-Madrid, 1909), who achieved amazing success before he died at the age of 49.
According to his biography, Querol came from humble origins, but he managed to go to Barcelona, where he attended courses at La Lonja and in the workshop of the Vallmitjana brothers
In 1884, he went to Rome on a scholarship from the Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid. He returned to Madrid, opened a workshop and immediately received so many commissions that he decided to hire several marble stonemasons and students.
Among the highlights of his career are the Madrid street monuments dedicated to the poet Francisco Gómez de Quevedo (1580 - 1645), the monument to the politician Moyano Samaniego (1809 - 1890) and the relief of Saint Francis the Great healing lepers (Prado Museum).
But the pediment of the National Library of Madrid literally takes your breath away.
The pediment figures symbolically welcome everyone who climbs the steps and enters the library building with an emblem of wisdom.
The pediment is crowned by three sculptures, one at each end, representing Genius (right) and Study (left), and at the apex the representation of Spain next to the lion symbolising Castile.
In the centre is depicted Peace, and at her feet, on the right, War Breaks his Sword, followed by representations of the various arts and sciences: Eloquence, Poetry, Music, Architecture, Painting, Sculpture and Philology along with those of Industry, Commerce and Agriculture. To the right of Peace is Philosophy, followed by Justice, Prudence, history, Astronomy, Ethnography, and Geography, together with Chemistry, Medicine, and Mathematics.
Made in marble this amazing sculpture represents the triumph of the arts, sciences and writing working under the protection of peace.
*******APPRECIATE ART & CULTURE * LOVE SPAIN
Resource Books written by
Karla Ingleton Darocas
and published by
SpainLifestyle.com
Resource Books written by
Karla Ingleton Darocas
and published by
SpainLifestyle.com
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