Camino Statues - Still Searching

[Robo]

I've been searching for a couple of years online for a nice Camino Statue to have at home.

NO
Not some 3 metre high Pilgrim dude head down into the wind.........
Or a full size naked wrought iron Hobo type character sitting on a park bench....

Something maybe 20 - 30 cms in height to go on a mantle piece.
That's about 8-12" for our 19th Century buddies

Something like the examples below.

But so far no luck. Maybe someone here has come across them whilst trawling the Internet in search of Camino related memorabilia?

A very kind member of the forum based in SdC checked locally for me without success.
And I have looked around the shops in SdC myself, a couple of times.
Lots of religious figures, but no Pilgrims...

I'm kind of surprised, as I thought there would be a market for them.

I wonder if they would go well in your store @ivar ?

Any ideas or guidance most appreciated.

Would Love to Find One of These.

• Robo
• Nov 25, 2018

Seen in the lobby of Hotel Ruta Jacobea in Lavacolla.

Would Love to Find One of These.

• Robo
• Nov 25, 2018

Seen in the lobby of Hotel Ruta Jacobea in Lavacolla.

 

[mspath]

Robo,
You might write the Hotel Ruta Jacobea in Lavacolla to ask their source for these handsome copies of the sitting pilgrim statue facing the parador in Leon and the searching pilgrim on the Alto San Roque hillside.
Good luck with your research and please do share further info on line.
Many of your digital friends might also like such a copy.

 

[malingerer]

Robo,
You might write the Hotel Ruta Jacobea in Lavacolla to ask their source for these handsome copies of the sitting pilgrim statue facing the parador in Leon and the searching pilgrim on the Alto San Roque hillside.
Good luck with your research and please do share further info on line.
Many of your digital friends might also like such a copy.

If there is a woodcarver anywhere near you might they not be cajoled into making you one? Either that or a monumental mason ( as what makes headstones!! ) altho that might get a little spooky?

Either way, good luck!

The Malingerer.

 

[Robo]

Robo,
You might write the Hotel Ruta Jacobea in Lavacolla to ask their source for these handsome copies of the sitting pilgrim statue facing the parador in Leon and the searching pilgrim on the Alto San Roque hillside.
Good luck with your research and please do share further info on line.
Many of your digital friends might also like such a copy.

One of our dear Forum members did enquire at the Hotel for me.
They were a special commission it seems.

 

[mspath]

Robo,
Thanks for your update. Perhaps those copies are signed by whomever made them. Thus you might still inquire for that name.

 

[Deleted member 73526]

Print your own ... ?

As I watched that video, I started to wonder if the souvenir shops in Santiago (and other cities) might one day just have a few 3D printers and a licensing system that would allow tourists to walk in and order statues in whatever size they need - Want a copy of the Leon pilgrim statue for your mantlepiece? Come back in an hour. A full size replica of the Santa Marta statue of Santiago to put on your garden wall? Sure. We can print it for you by tomorrow.

 

[Kathor1]

Occasionally, one of these small bronze figures are on sale online; they are put on offer by antique sellers or auction houses in Spain. The artist who created the originals is Jose Maria Acuña. Below is an example from last year. The small statue of a pilgrim facing the wind was sold for € 300 - or is it the asking price?

 

[Kathor1]

Occasionally, one of these small bronze figures are on sale online; they are put on offer by antique sellers or auction houses in Spain

I would watch https://en.todocoleccion.net. They currently show an offer for one of these small replicas, put up for sale by a Barcelona seller, but it's not pilgrimage related.

 

[Robo]

Occasionally, one of these small bronze figures are on sale online; they are put on offer by antique sellers or auction houses in Spain. The artist who created the originals is Jose Maria Acuña. Below is an example from last year. The small statue of a pilgrim facing the wind was sold for € 300 - or is it the asking price?

View attachment 78030

Yes, that's the guy!

 

[JillGat]

He's wearing Chaco sandals.

 

[Terry Callery]

I saw this statue in Padron on the Portuguese Route.

 

[rappahannock_rev]

A particular favorite of mine is the Pilgrims Monument in Mansilla de las Mulas. I'd love to purchase some small reproduction of it for my church office.

 

[Stephan the Painter]

Print your own ... ?

As I watched that video, I started to wonder if the souvenir shops in Santiago (and other cities) might one day just have a few 3D printers and a licensing system that would allow tourists to walk in and order statues in whatever size they need - Want a copy of the Leon pilgrim statue for your mantlepiece? Come back in an hour. A full size replica of the Santa Marta statue of Santiago to put on your garden wall? Sure. We can print it for you by tomorrow.

A very interesting video. I think what they don’t make clear though, is that there’s hundreds if not thousands of hours involved in scanning these things and creating a file that can actually print something. But, I imagine that will become quicker as the years go by and the technology improves.

 

[Deleted member 73526]

I think what they don’t make clear though, is that there’s hundreds if not thousands of hours involved in scanning these things and creating a file that can actually print something.

I certainly got that impression from his description of the curious attention he gets from security guards as he takes a vast number of photographs from every possible angle - and then, presumably has to combine all of the data from all of those images.
I think it's a matter of time before the dull and repetitive part of that job can be given to a robot - leaving an artist to make the aesthetic choices.

 

[David]

Fascinating - have just been searching and they don't exist - plenty of St James statuettes and figurines but not pilgrims ... I would sell them in my online store!

We need just one plus a 3d printer! ... or .. if we could find an artist to make one in coal or slate or clay ... latex moulds and away we go!

 

[JillGat]

My favorite statue is the one at the bottom of a hill on the way to Astorga. Step on a pedal and water goes from a bota bag into the mouth of the pilgrim. Many walkers photograph it without knowing about the pedal.

 

[Robo]

Fascinating - have just been searching and they don't exist - plenty of St James statuettes and figurines but not pilgrims ... I would sell them in my online store!

We need just one plus a 3d printer! ... or .. if we could find an artist to make one in coal or slate or clay ... latex moulds and away we go!

There's definitely a market @David !

 

[JillGat]

José María Acuña López
Spanish sculptor
Born : April 4, 1903, Salcedo, Spain
Died : June 4, 1991, Vigo, Spain

Interesting, he was deaf.

https://www.minube.net/place/jose-m-acuna-lopez-memorial--a436191

 

[Robo]

José María Acuña López
Spanish sculptor
Born : April 4, 1903, Salcedo, Spain
Died : June 4, 1991, Vigo, Spain

Interesting, he was deaf.

https://www.minube.net/place/jose-m-acuna-lopez-memorial--a436191

As I recall, he designed the big one at Alto de san Roque.

 

[Former member 49149]

A couple more... I have one of them somewhere, but these I found by googling. And now, remembering, my own avatar is from a photo I took in Christchurch Cathedral Dublin. It is the motif on the chairs in the church.

 

[Kathor1]

Here is another one of these small statues by J. Acuña. It is also called Pilgrim. I cannot find anything about this - when these bronze statuettes were originally put on the market, how large the edition was etc. I guess you could not just copy and sell them today - there's the question of artistic and intellectual ownership surely. They are quite enchanting.

 

[Kathor1]

I personally found it quite odd that so many municipalities found it necessary to put up statues dedicated to pilgrims, and often even modern pilgrims, along the Camino Frances in Spain and to a much lesser extent in France. That's a difference between now and then. Then it was statues to honour Saint James and Saint Roch and lesser pilgrimage saints, now it is statues to celebrate ourselves.

 

[David Tallan]

I personally found it quite odd that so many municipalities found it necessary to put up statues dedicated to pilgrims, and often even modern pilgrims, along the Camino Frances in Spain and to a much lesser extent in France. That's a difference between now and then. Then it was statues to honour Saint James and Saint Roch and lesser pilgrimage saints, now it is statues to celebrate ourselves.

I'm not sure that they found it "necessary". Nor do I think it is statues to celebrate "ourselves". That would imply that it is the pilgrims who are erecting the statues or requiring that municipalities erect them. I think few, if any, of these statues are erected by us pilgrims celebrating ourselves.

Rather, I suspect that it is that communities are choosing this way to celebrate their connection with the ancient pilgrimage route. Statues of saints can be anywhere. You only tend to see statues of pilgrims on the pilgrimage route.

I agree, however, that it reflects an increasing component of the Camino that isn't purely Catholic religious in nature.

Just my opinion. Your mileage may vary.

 

[Gumba]

Hi Robo, just a thought.. Have you searched 'other' pilgrim routes for statues of a pilgrim? ie Portuguese or even Via Francegina for example? Probably a bit of an esoteric suggestion but thought I would put it out there.

 

[Deleted member 73526]

Hi Robo, just a thought.. Have you searched 'other' pilgrim routes for statues of a pilgrim? ie Portuguese or even Via Francegina for example? Probably a bit of an esoteric suggestion but thought I would put it out there.

On the Via de la Plata and Camino Sanabres, there are some "folk art" pieces depicting pilgrims. I love them, but I have the feeling that there would not be a huge demand for replicas. I could imagine people buying T-shirts and/or other merchandise with the Rionegro pilgrim statue as a logo. Mind you, the drawing on the Funeterroble albergue would be even cooler. As has been mentioned, the creators of these works would be due royalties for any use of their work.

As for the Via Francigena ... I have only walked a little bit of it, but I didn't see any pilgrim statues. There is an extremely famous statue of the burghers of Calais, which (according to Wikipedia) exists in 12 original castings and numerous copies. I guess it's also a piece of art with an atypical subject - neither saints, nor kings, nor generals, but townspeople. I can't say that I'd want a copy for my home, though.

 

[cathietherese]

I've been searching for a couple of years online for a nice Camino Statue to have at home.

NO
Not some 3 metre high Pilgrim dude head down into the wind.........
Or a full size naked wrought iron Hobo type character sitting on a park bench....

Something maybe 20 - 30 cms in height to go on a mantle piece.
That's about 8-12" for our 19th Century buddies

Something like the examples below.

But so far no luck. Maybe someone here has come across them whilst trawling the Internet in search of Camino related memorabilia?

A very kind member of the forum based in SdC checked locally for me without success.
And I have looked around the shops in SdC myself, a couple of times.
Lots of religious figures, but no Pilgrims...

I'm kind of surprised, as I thought there would be a market for them.

I wonder if they would go well in your store @ivar ?

Any ideas or guidance most appreciated.

Would Love to Find One of These.

• Robo
• Nov 25, 2018

Seen in the lobby of Hotel Ruta Jacobea in Lavacolla.

Would Love to Find One of These.

• Robo
• Nov 25, 2018

Seen in the lobby of Hotel Ruta Jacobea in Lavacolla.

Hi Robo,
These are beautiful examples. @ivar I wonder if this is a good opportunity for a new forum provision for contemporary Spanish sculptors/artists to offer their skills? I would also love to locate Camino statues of the Virgin, Mary Magdalene, and other female saints/representations along ‘The Way’. Does anyone know of any good contacts? Let’s support Spanish artist’s work. Catherine

 

[jacaranda_daze]

I have this little fellow. 12cm or just under 5 inches. I found him in the Cathedral shop at SdeC in 2014. Took him outside for the pic.

 

[Deleted member 73526]

The most famous pilgrims of the Camino de Santiago

Today we travel the Way of Saint James visiting the main sculptures, statues, monuments and figures dedicated to the pilgrim

www.elcaminoconcorreos.com

 

[JillGat]

When I see statues of St. James as a pilgrim, I always wonder where he is Going.

 

[VNwalking]

When I see statues of St. James as a pilgrim, I always wonder where he is Going.

Ditto.

Many walkers photograph it without knowing about the pedal.

Ha! I walked right past, completely oblivious.

Here is a similar statue on the way out of Monforte de Lemos, on the Invierno. I couldn't help but think the middle of a poorly maintained roundabout seemed a strange and sad place for him to be stuck for eternity.

 

[JillGat]

I personally found it quite odd that so many municipalities found it necessary to put up statues dedicated to pilgrims, and often even modern pilgrims, along the Camino Frances in Spain and to a much lesser extent in France. That's a difference between now and then. Then it was statues to honour Saint James and Saint Roch and lesser pilgrimage saints, now it is statues to celebrate ourselves.

And I'm sure I told the story of searching for a statuette of San Roque in Santiago. See him in churches all along the way, with his plague sore and loyal dog (whose fleas probably gave him the plague), but it took me a long time to find one.

 

[JillGat]

My favorite statue is the one at the bottom of a hill on the way to Astorga. Step on a pedal and water goes from a bota bag into the mouth of the pilgrim. Many walkers photograph it without knowing about the pedal.

The gord flask water drinking pilgrim statue | Photo

A picture of The gord flask water drinking pilgrim statue hosted by travelblog.org

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