José Belloni (September 12, 1882 – November 28, 1965) was a

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

of the Realist school.

Biography

José Belloni was born in

Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

, in 1882; his father was Swiss from Ticino, and his mother Basque from Spain. His family returned to

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

in 1890, however, and the Bellonis settled in

Lugano Lugano ( , , ; ) is a city and municipality within the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland. It is the largest city in both Ticino and the Italian-speaking region of southern Switzerland. Lugano has a population () of , and an u ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. He took an early interest in

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

, and was mentored by Luis Vasseli, earning a scholarship that briefly took him to Uruguay, in 1899. He later enrolled in the Munich Academy, and participated in numerous exhibitions throughout Europe. Returning to Uruguay, Belloni became an instructor in the Committee for the Encouragement of Fine Arts, and in 1914, he was picked to succeed painter Carlos María Herrera as director of the institution. Belloni created a sculpture in homage to his recently deceased predecessor, and its unveiling later that year in Montevideo's

Paseo del Prado The Paseo del Prado is one of the main boulevards in Madrid, Spain. It runs north–south between the Plaza de Cibeles and the Plaza del Emperador Carlos V (also known as Plaza de Madrid Atocha railway station, Atocha), with the Plaza de Cánov ...

created a demand for his works as monuments. The first of these was Belloni's ''La carreta'' (''The Carriage''), an ode to the ox-cart drivers ubiquitous in the 19th century, cast in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

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by the

Ferdinando Marinelli Artistic Foundry The Ferdinando Marinelli Artistic Foundry (abbreviated as FAFM), is a bronze foundry based in Florence, Italy. It uses the Renaissance-era bronze, technique of lost-wax. The foundry has created numerous bronze sculptures over the past century. A ...

and unveiled in a city park (today José Batlle y Ordoñez Park), in 1919. ''La música'' (1923) a monument to

William Tell William Tell (, ; ; ; ) is a legendary folk hero of Switzerland. He is known for shooting an apple off his son's head. According to the legend, Tell was an expert mountain climber and marksman with a crossbow who assassinated Albrecht Gessler, ...

(1931) followed (also cast in Florence by Ferdinando Marinelli's foundry), and Belloni contributed numerous bronzes and

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

s to the

General Assembly of Uruguay The General Assembly of Uruguay () is the bicameral legislature of the government of Uruguay, and consists of two chambers: the Chamber of Senators and the Chamber of Representatives. General Assembly has 130 voting members: 99 representative ...

, as well. The noted sculptor also taught painting at the University of Montevideo's School of Architecture. Continuing to sculpt in later life, among his well-known works from this period was ''Nuevos rumbos'' (''New Paths''), a

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

work overlooking

Parque Rodó Parque Rodó is both a ''barrio'' (neighbourhood or district) of Montevideo, Uruguay and a park which lies mostly outside the limits of the barrio itself and belongs to Punta Carretas. The name "Rodó" has been given in memory of José Enrique Rod� ...

, as well as a monument to the park's namesake, writer and lawmaker José Enrique Rodó. Belloni completed ''El entrevero'' (''The Struggle'') practically upon his death in 1965, at age 83. The masterpiece was placed upon Fabini Plaza, on 18th of July Avenue, in 1967. His son Stelio was also a notable sculptor.

External links

Revista Raíces – José Belloni

References

Uruguayan people of Swiss-Italian descent Uruguayan people of Basque descent Artists from Montevideo 1882 births 1965 deaths Academy of Fine Arts, Munich alumni 20th-century Uruguayan sculptors Uruguayan male sculptors 20th-century Uruguayan male artists {{Uruguay-sculptor-stub