Sculptor to the Vatican
Spanish sculptor Marco Augusto Dueñas has created three religious sculptures in Carrara marble for the Vatican: the monumental statues of Saint Rafaela María and Saint Maron on the exterior of St Peter’s Basilica, and a relief of Saint John Paul II at the Apostolic Almonry.
His association with Rome began with an international competition held in 2004, under the pontificate of John Paul II, which led to the statue of Saint Rafaela María, blessed by Benedict XVI in 2010. With that work, according to the Diocese of Córdoba, Dueñas became the first Spanish sculptor to have a work at the Vatican; today he is the only living sculptor whose work stands alongside Michelangelo’s at St Peter’s Basilica.
Saint Raphaela
Saint Rafaela María de Porras, born in Pedro Abad (Córdoba), founded the Handmaids of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Dueñas portrays her in a six-metre statue carved in white Carrara marble from a block weighing some sixty tonnes. Benedict XVI blessed the work on 20 January 2010, before the General Audience. The saint extends her hand to a girl at her feet, an emblem of her educational mission. The statue stands in a niche designed by Michelangelo on the exterior of St Peter’s Basilica. With this work, the Diocese of Córdoba notes, Dueñas became the first Spanish sculptor to have a work at the Vatican.
Saint Maron
Saint Maron (4th–5th centuries) founded the Maronite tradition. The Maronite Catholic Church commissioned the statue to mark the 1,600th anniversary of his death: 5.40 metres of Carrara marble, carved over six months from a single block. It fills the last available niche on the exterior of the basilica, on the Via delle Fondamenta facade. Benedict XVI blessed it on 23 February 2011, minutes before receiving the President of Lebanon, Michel Suleiman. The saint holds a small Maronite-style church in his left hand.
Saint John Paul II
A circular relief of Saint John Paul II in white Carrara marble, 80 cm in diameter, installed in the courtyard of the Apostolic Almonry at the Vatican. Cardinal Konrad Krajewski blessed it in 2020, the centenary of Karol Wojtyła’s birth.
