MURCIA. Jose Antonio Hernandez Navarro nIt happened on December 4, 1954, in the Almodóvar Corner (Los Ramos), which at that time depended on Torreagüera, since the history of this modern district has always been linked to the town at the foot of Miravete. That same month and year he was baptized in the parish church of Santísimo Cristo del Valle, which dates back to the 18th century and to which he feels very close as we will see later. His grandfather, baptized in Torreagüera and also in Rincón, was a railway worker, hence his father was born in Andalusia and his mother in the province of Alicante, due to the forced transfers that this profession required.
Among lemon and fig trees, he began his first studies, later taking the academic leap to high school at the Alfonso X Institute, and then continuing his training at the School of Arts and Crafts; both centers in the capital of the Segura valley. In the latter, he taught classes until the sculptor’s retirement Juan González Morenowhich would be very beneficial for Hernández.
He continued his training, in the workshops of Elisa Seiquer and then, in the Jose Sanchez Lozanoto later work in nativity scene workshops in the area.
At the end of the 70s his career suffered a short break, when he moved to Zaragoza to perform his military service, but he did not remain idly there either, since he created several works, such as a shield with an eagle or a monument for the quartering.
Once this stage of his life is over, he marries Francisca Rubio nicknamed ‘The Barber’, already focusing on religious imagery and the creation of some civil sculptures. One aspect to note is that the second half of the 80s of the last 20th century would represent a before and after in her sculptural style.
The first work for worship that he sculpted in 1971 would be his beloved Virgen de la Huerta, which was installed in his hermitage starting in 1980 in Rincón de Almodóvar, its construction promoted by Hernández.
In 1996 he was appointed official restorer of the Virgen de la Fuensanta by the then bishop Javier Azagra and in 2000 he was elected a member of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Santa María Arrixaca.
Hernández Navarro’s contribution to the artistic heritage of Torreagüera began in 1973/74 at the request of the parish priest Don Francisco, with the creation of the relief of the altarpiece of the church of the Santísimo Cristo del Valle ‘Virgen de la Asunción with archangels’. Later, he made for the town the bust and reliefs of the civil monument of Antonio Gálvez Arce ‘Antonete’ at the request of members of UCD in 1980/81, which would be unveiled in the square with his name in 1984. That same year the Brotherhood of Saint Juan asked him to sculpt the current image with which they process, and in 1985 Antonio Serrano commissioned him to create the ‘Virgin of Hope’.
Already, in the 90s of the 20th century, specifically in 1995/96, he made the ‘Resurrected Christ’ for his good friend Manuel Garre and at the end of the same year, the ‘Virgin of the Glorious Dawn’ for the brotherhood of that name . As of 2010, his last two contributions to Torreagüera were the ‘Cristo del Rescate’ requested by José Tomás and a small ‘Cristo del Valle’ for the Knights and Ladies of the Santísimo Cristo del Valle. Hernández comments that there were several attempts to make a wooden carving of the ‘Holy Christ of the Vall’, but for reasons of religious conservationism they did not come to fruition. However, every time he visits Torreagüera and when the church is open, he stops by to greet his friend the ‘Christ’, as he tells me.
Hernández Navarro considers one of his best works to be the ‘The Descent’ step, which is located in the parish of San Miguel Arcángel in Murcia, in addition to the ‘Stripped Christ’ that he carved for Valladolid and the ‘Ascension of the Risen One’ that can be seen. on Easter Sunday morning in the processional procession that leaves from the capital’s church of Santa Eulalia. However, his work is spread throughout much of the national geography.
Retired in 2021, he tells me that neither of his two sons (one a teacher in Language and the other in Philosophy) have been bitten by the imagery bug; Of course, the three of them are united by a passion for music. One of the flames to stay at the foot of the canyon is the enjoyment of being with his two grandchildren, one of whom loves the sound of bells; Maybe this kid, in the future, will recover the art of being a bell ringer, a profession lost some time ago and that only exists as a hobby in some places. Oh, of course! We have Don José for a while, in addition to an artistic style that will last over time. And, as I saw, several young people visit his workshop to perfect their technique, advised by one of the best sculptors of religious images of the contemporary age that our Region of Murcia has produced, who is none other than José Antonio Hernández Navarro.
* Raúl Jiménez y Lorca is a chronicler of Torreagüera
