Sorolla’s last will: the monument overlooking the sea that was lost after a flood and that Valencia wants to rebuild with original pieces

If there is a theme present in the work of Joaquin Sorolla is his beloved Mediterranean Sea. If the Valencian reached the category of master of light it was precisely because of how he painted those golden reflections on the naked bodies of children in the sand, or on the foam of the waves. However, Sorolla died on August 10, 1923 in his Madrid home in Cercedilla, far from that Mediterranean sun that inspired him so much. Sorolla, in fact, passed away without seeing his dream fulfilled. His last wish: to stay forever looking at the sea.

Following the centenary of his death in 2023, Valencia City Council “now wants to repay a historic debt” to one of its most illustrious sons, according to the Councillor for Culture, José Luis Moreno. The council headed by María José Catalá has proposed to re-erect the monument to Sorolla that was once erected on the Valencian beach of Cabañal. It stood there until The famous flood of 1957 swept it away.

Some pieces disappeared under water or were lost, others were scattered over a radius of several kilometres… Others have remained forgotten in some cemetery or buried in municipal warehouses without anyone knowing exactly what they were. Even remains of columns have been found in the old bed of the Turia River..

But it is now that the City Council has been able to certify the authenticity of the pieces and the origin of the materials. With the 60% of original parts locatedValencia wants to rebuild the monument that once paid homage to the man who best captured the nuances of its light.

“Our goal is to recover the monument following the protocol that is applied with the anastylosis technique“explains archaeologist Vicent Escrivà, director of the L’Almoina Archaeological Centre in Valencia. In other words, it involves reconstructing an ancient monument as faithfully as possible by bringing together its scattered fragments.

Escrivà himself admits that Sorolla’s is not a historical monument in the strict sense. The reason is none other than the few years it stood, as it was inaugurated in 1933. “Most Valencians know it through historical photographs, despite the fact that in its day it was a monument that people were very fond of,” says the archaeologist.

The history of the monument is also The story of an old friendship and the madness of two artists who insisted on transporting part of its stones from Madrid to Valencia. Francisco Mora was the architect who designed the entire work – a raised tribune in front of a colonnade with views of the sea – but Mariano Benlliure – a close friend of Sorolla – was the author of the marble bust of the painter. The sculptor gave it to the City Council for a future tribute to Sorolla, and this is the bust currently kept in the Museum of the City of Valencia.

They are bronze replicalocated today in the Plaza de la Semana Santa Marinera, is actually the one that in 1933 looked out to sea from Cabañal beach. The municipal technicians wanted to preserve the marble work from corrosion by the salinity of the sea, so it will be the bronze Sorolla that returns to the beach in the future. The idea of ​​the Valencian council is that it does so in its original location, for which the permit is already being processed with the Coastal Demarcation. If it is not possible on the sand, the promenade is being considered as an alternative location.

A facade in Madrid

However, the rest of the monument, made of stone, integrated materials from the old building of the Royal Martínez Silver Factory and School of Madrid“We have these pieces catalogued in the Archive of the City of Madrid and we know that they are made of granite from the Sierra de Guadarrama,” says Escrivà, who emphasizes that to confirm the origin of the stones they have worked in collaboration with the Geological and Mining Institute of Spain, dependent on the CSIC.

And what happened to the façade of the Platería Martínez in Valencia? Built at the end of the 18th century, in 1918 it was decided to demolish the building of the Royal Factory. Sorolla took advantage of the opportunity, through his friend Benlliure, to buy the façade. He had in mind to use its materials to build a Palace of Fine Arts in Valencia. As the idea never came to fruition, it was the Academy of San Carlos that suggested that the columns and bases be used in the monument to Sorolla. Even though some were in a “deplorable state”.

After the flood, The pieces ended up being dispersed with the “garden improvement policy” of the metropolitan area that was carried out in the 1980s, according to Escrivà. The stones were given another ornamental use in parks and cemeteries, from where they will now be removed to ensure that, in the coming years, Sorolla once again faces the sea.

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