Kyoto City U. of Arts To Get Sagrada Familia Angels; Spanish Basilica’s Sculptor Sotoo Is An Alumnus

The Yomiuri Shimbun
Etsuro Sotoo provides an explanation in front of his statues of singing angels, which were displayed in the “Gaudi and the Sagrada Familia” exhibition at the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, in 2023.

By Mutsumi Morita / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

13:00 JST, December 29, 2024

Etsuro Sotoo, chief sculptor of the Sagrada Familia basilica in Barcelona, donated nine plaster cast statues of singing angels to his alma mater in Japan, that were installed at the famous World Cultural Heritage site for about 10 years.

The statues will be placed on permanent display as early as January on the campus of Kyoto City University of Arts, from which Sotoo graduated.

Sagrada Familia is the representative work of architect Antoni Gaudi (1852-1926) and the touristic symbol of Barcelona. It has been called the unfinished basilica, as its construction started in 1882 and continues until today.

The Yomiuri Shimbun
The Nativity Facade of the Sagrada Familia basilica

Sotoo has been working for Sagrada Familia since 1978, after graduating from the university, and has created about 500 sculptures so far. The singing angels are plaster cast statues celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. Sotoo took inspiration from basic designs left by Gaudi to create the statues, which measure up to 3.3 meters in height.

In 1990, the statues were installed at the upper part of the Nativity Facade of Sagrada Familia, which is currently used as an entrance for visitors. The plaster cast angels were life-size models to check the balance and harmony with surrounding sculptures, and they were replaced with stone statues in 2000. After the plaster cast statues were removed, they were displayed in a 2023-24 touring exhibition titled “Gaudi and the Sagrada Familia” held in Tokyo, Shiga and Aichi prefectures.

According to the university, it will display the statues at a place where ordinary people can appreciate them as well. Repair and installation costs are estimated at about ¥45 million. Aiming to raise ¥30 million to partially cover the costs, the university is running a crowdfunding campaign until Jan. 8.

“The university helped me build basic skills as a sculptor. I will glad if these statues can be used as educational material for students,” Sotoo said in a comment.