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BENLLIURE, Mariano - b. 1862 Valencia, d. 1947 Madrid - WGA

BENLLIURE, Mariano

(b. 1862 Valencia, d. 1947 Madrid)

Spanish sculptor, who executed many public monuments and religious sculptures in Spain, working in a heroic realist style. His earliest sculptures featured bullfighting themes, modelled in wax and cast in bronze. He went to Paris to study painting, but 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 the first prize. His style is characterized by detailed naturalism combined with impressionistic spontaneity. He executed numerous portrait busts and public monuments.

Monument to General Arsenio Martínez-Campos
Monument to General Arsenio Martínez-Campos by

Monument to General Arsenio Martínez-Campos

General Arsenio Mart�nez Campos (1831-1900) played a key role in bringing the Bourbon Restoration by leading the coup d’etat of Sagunto in 1874. His equestrian monument was erected on the initiative of the Marquis of Cabriñana after a popular subscription initiated in December 1904. It was inaugurated on January 28, 1907. Designed by the sculptor Mariano Benlliure, it consists of a stone pedestal that supports the bronze statue of general Mart�nez Campos.

A pedestal made of white marble with 4 steps constitutes the base of the monument. A largely unpolished crag made of limestone lies on top of the marble plinth. The front side of the monument displays a war trophy cast in bronze consisting of flags and wartime items. A relief carved in the limestone rock representing the battle of Castillejos extends across the left-hand and back sides of the crag. At the top is the cast bronze equestrian statue of Mart�nez Campos.

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