Jerónimo Suñol was a Catalonian sculptor born
in Barcelona in 1840 and who died in Madrid on 16 October, 1902.
Between this two dates are forty years devoted to sculpture. Certainly, his memory has almost been forgotten, although some of his works are contemplated every day by thousands of people who see them without actually experiencing them. They are used to glancingat something so familiar, such an integral part of our environment that it becomes a routine and never draws a second look.
Nowadays, when sculpture adopts so many and peculiar forms, it seems difficult to consider a such an artist innovative in his field. However, he was indeed innovative in his art, going beyond the rigid neo-classic limits prevailing during the second half of 19th Century.
His production
is wide, but not as extensive as it could have been if he had
not dedicated such meticulous attention to each of his works.
A century after his death we have lost much information and so
many memories that any attempt to construct his biography is
doomed to fail. This web page intends to recover what we still
know about him by means of an accurate and exact transcription
of the documents not lost to the passage of time. Only some remarks
have been added regarding evident mistakes due to imperfect documentation
systems of 19th century, that erroneously attribute to him works
he actually never created. They reflect personal opinions, and
their value lays on their various origins that throw some light
on testimonies that taken as a whole let us know what Suñol
was truly like. Those testimonies show us a cultivated man of
extreme modesty and simplicity, a great artist, a good Catalonian
and worthy Spaniard. It is just right to give him his due and
gather further data to preserve his memory in the future.