Saint John Baptist de La Salle

Santa Cruz de Tenerife · Category: Art · Subcategory: Sculpture · Year: 1986 · Authors: Eladio González de la Cruz

This sculptural group was made by the Tenerife artist Eladio de la Cruz in 1985 and a year later installed near the Galcerán bridge, very close to the La Salle school, the name of the main character appearing in the work. 

Jean-Baptiste de La Salle (1651-1719) was a French priest, educational reformer and founder of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools. A saint of the Catholic Church, he dedicated much of his life to the education of poor children, the creation of schools and the training of teachers with innovative educational practices which, given their success, quickly spread worldwide. 

In Santa Cruz the La Salle San Ildefonso school opened its premises in 1911 at number 65 San Vicente Ferrer street, where it operated until 1933, when during the Second Republic it was forced to close. After the Civil War the school reopened in 1941, this time in a private house located on the extension of the Galcerán bridge, an extension that would come to be called La Salle Avenue. Years later, in 1953, the current educational centre building was inaugurated.  

The sculptural group made by Eladio de la Cruz consists of three bronze figures. The main one corresponds to the saint who is presented to us holding an open book in his hands. He is accompanied by two figures of schoolchildren. The sculptor’s representation of the human body shows a clear expressionist tendency, both in attitudes and in the way the material is treated in its finishes and textures.

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