Joaquín Bilbao Martínez (August 27, 1864January 30, 1934) was a Spanish sculptor. The

equestrian statue An equestrian statue is a statue of a rider mounted on a horse, from the Latin ''eques'', meaning 'knight', deriving from ''equus'', meaning 'horse'. A statue of a riderless horse is strictly an equine statue. A full-sized equestrian statue is a ...

Ferdinand III of Castile Ferdinand III (; 1199/120130 May 1252), called the Saint (''el Santo''), was King of Castile from 1217 and King of León from 1230 as well as King of Galicia from 1231. He was the son of Alfonso IX of León and Berengaria of Castile. Through his ...

in the Plaza Nueva, Seville, opposite the Town Hall, was sculpted by him. Estatua rey Fernando III de Castilla-ret

Early life

Joaquín Bilbao was born on August 27, 1864, in

Sevilla Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Seville ...

. He was the brother of the painter Gonzalo Bilbao. Bilbao began his studies at the . He studied Baccalaureate at the Provincial Institute. During his high school education, he enrolled with his brother Gonzalo in drawing and watercolor classes under Professor Pedro Vega. In 1881, upon finishing the Baccalaureate, he enrolled in the Faculty of Law of the old Literary

University of Seville The University of Seville (''Universidad de Sevilla'') is a university in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. Founded under the name of ''Colegio Santa María de Jesús'' in 1505, in 2022 it has a student body of 57,214,U-Ranking Universidades español ...

. He finished his law studies in 1887. In 1890, he started working at the law firm of Manuel de Bedmar y Escudero. At the age of 29 he left the legal profession to devote himself to sculpture.

Career

In 1900 Bilbao moved to Paris, where he attended his for four years. During that time, he also made trips to

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, and

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. During his stay abroad, he did not lose contact with the in

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

and with the Spanish national exhibitions. In Netherlands and Belgium, he learned from the work of

Constantin Meunier Constantin Meunier (; 12 April 1831 – 4 April 1905) was a Belgian Painting, painter and sculpture, sculptor. He made an important contribution to the development of modern art by elevating the image of the industrial worker, docker and mi ...

. He returned to Seville in 1904. In October of that year, the named Bilbao as a member of Sculpture of the Provincial Commission of Historical and Artistic Monuments. In 1909 he moved to Toledo and became professor at the School of Arts and Crafts of Toledo. In this city he was also conservator of the . In 1902 he was appointed Ordinary Commander of the

Civil Order of Alfonso XII The Civil Order of Alfonso XII () is a Spanish honorific decoration named for King Alfonso XII (1857–1885). It was established by Royal Decree on 23 May 1902 to reward achievements in education, science, culture, teaching and research. Histo ...

. In 1912 he returned to his hometown, where he remained, except for sporadic trips. From 1914 to 1919 he had a disciple in his workshop Enrique Pérez Comendador, who made a bronze bust of his teacher. Bilbao died on January 30, 1934, in Seville.

List of selected works

His works include:

Drawing and paintings

Sculptures

Literature

* *

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bilbao, Joaquin 1864 births 1934 deaths University of Seville alumni People from Seville 19th-century Spanish sculptors Spanish sculptors