San Fernando to dedicate a monument to the religious image sculptor Antonio Bey Olvera
Topics Olvera
The sculpture, the work of his son Juan Antonio Bey García, will be installed on calle Real, next to the parish church of San Francisco.
San Fernando will have a sculptural monument dedicated to the religious image sculptor Antonio Bey Olvera. The work will be carried out by his son, the sculptor Juan Antonio Bey García, also the author of the monument to the Salinero at the roundabout on avenida de la Constitución. According to the Ayuntamiento, the ensemble will be installed on calle Real, in the ensanche area and around the parish church of San Francisco.
What the monument will show
The project envisages a bust of the sculptor of religious images about 60 centimetres tall. On its lower part it will have two bas-reliefs with the images of the Cristo del Perdón and the Virgen de la Caridad, one on each side, and on the back a commemorative plaque. The ensemble will measure approximately 70x70x40 centimetres and will rest on a base and a pedestal of 80x80x120 centimetres. The Ayuntamiento notes that these measurements correspond to an indicative sketch, since the definitive model is still being prepared.
The composition will also include elements typical of sculptural work, such as instruments and tools of the trade. The Virgen de la Caridad, made by Bey Olvera in 1943, is one of the works that will be reproduced. The Cristo del Perdón arrived at the Casería de Ossio in 1954, and that same year the Sagrado Corazón de Jesús was installed and blessed on Paseo General Lobo, an image that will also appear in the monument.
An artist from the island
Antonio Bey Olvera was born in 1917 and was one of the most outstanding religious image sculptors of San Fernando in the decades after the Civil War. At 16 he entered the Escuela de Artes y Oficios de Cádiz and later extended his training in Madrid. In 1940 he received his first commission for religious imagery, a set of feet for the Nazareno de San Fernando, and from then on he worked for the Holy Week of the island and of other municipalities in the province. In 1960 he moved to Madrid.
The bust was presented during the event organised for the 50th anniversary of the sculptor's death. The location has been decided together with the family and the linked brotherhoods. The mayor, Patricia Cavada, has stated that «Antonio Bey Olvera is an essential part of the cultural history of our city».
The procedure
The Ayuntamiento has not provided dates for the installation of the monument or a deadline for carrying out the project.