Francisco Salzillo - Main Works

Main Works

Unlike the great sculptors of the 18th century, like Montañés or Gregorio Fernández, Francisco Salzillo did not dwell overly on the dramatic aspects of the scenes he depicted, but explored naturalistic concepts of idealized beauty that heralded the transition from the Baroque style into the Rococó and Neoclasicism. Salzillo founded the so-called Murcian School of Sculpture that extended beyond its time and that has remained effective to the present time, because both his first followers and those who have followed to date have perpetuated the iconographic and stylistic models and types of Salzillo. There is a Museum in Murcia dedicated to Salzillo. His main works are:

• La Cena (The Last Supper): it was created in 1763 and it is composed of thirteen figures (Jesus and 12 Apostles) seated around a table.
• La Oración del Huerto (The Agony in the Garden): created in 1754, in it can be seen, on the one hand, an angel showing the chalice to Jesus, and on the other hand, the scene of the three sleeping apostles under the palm.
• El Prendimiento or El Beso de Judas (The Arrest or The Kiss of Judas): created in 1754, it contrasts the faces of Jesus and Judas, allowing a comparison of beauty and kindness of the former as opposed to the ugliness and evil of the latter.
• Jesús en la Columna or Los Azotes (Jesus at the Column or The Flagellation: sculpted in 1777, it shows the face of Jesus filled with serenity and resignation enduring the lashes which he receives.
• Santa Mujer Verónica (The Holy Woman Veronica): created in 1755, it shows Saint Veronica with a dolorous expression, taking between her hands the cloth on which is miraculously imprinted the face of Jesus.
• La Caída (The Fall): created in 1752.
• San Juan (Saint John): created in 1756.
• La Dolorosa (The Virgin of Sorrows): created in 1756.
• El Belén (The Nativity Scene): created between 1780 and 1800, it was begun by Salzillo and extended by his disciple Roque López. It is a set of 556 mud figures of about 30 cm. of height.
• Numerous preparatory sketches modeled in terracotta.