Francisco Salzillo

Francisco Salzillo
Portrait of Francisco Salzillo, John Albacete (1823–1883) (Royal Economic Society of Friends of the Country of Murcia).
Born	Francisco Salzillo y Alcaraz (1707-05-11)May 11, 1707 Murcia, (Spain)
Died	March 2, 1783. Murcia, (Spain) Murcia, (Spain)
Nationality	Spanish
Known for	sculpture
Movement	baroque

Francisco Salzillo y Alcaraz (21 May 1707 – 2 March 1783) was a Spanish sculptor. He is the most representative Spanish image-maker of the 18th century and one of greatest of the Baroque. Francisco Salzillo worked exclusively on religious themes, and almost always in polychromed wood. He made hundreds of pieces that are distributed throughout the Region of Murcia and some in bordering provinces. The Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) caused the destruction of many of the works of Salzillo. Some of his masterpieces include his nonprocessional religious work, his processional work, and his great Nativity scene.

He was born in Murcia to a wood sculptor Nicolás Salzillo. At the age of twenty he completed the statue of St Ines of Montepulciano, which had been begun for the Dominicans at Murcia by his father. On the death of the latter the care of the family fell upon Francisco, who with the help of his brothers and sisters organized a workshop. In 1765 he also founded a small academy, which, however, was speedily dissolved owing to disunion among the members. In the Ermita de Jesús in Murcia may be seen Salzillo's scenes from the Passion of Our Lord, a vast work in which all the sculptor's qualities and defects are revealed. In the church of San Miguel are an Immaculate Conception and a St Francis. Mention should also be made of the Christ at the Well in the church of Santa María de las Gracias in Murcia, and of the sculptures in San Pedro and in the Capuchin monastery in Murcia. Salzillo mainly worked in wood and carved "in the round", after which was his work was gilded and polychromed using a technique called estofado. The attribution of the stone sculptures on the facade of St Nicolas's Church in Murcia to him, is purely conjectural. A number of sculptures in Santiago Apóstol, Lorquí are attributed to him or his school.