Pascual Martínez Julio (1879-1967)

(Toledo (Spain) 1879-Toledo (Spain) 1967)
Julio Pascual, son of a family of dyers, began his drawing studies under the guidance of the painter José Vera and soon his dexterity allowed him to enter the Escuela de Artes. He began his apprenticeship in blacksmithing at twenty-three years old, under the master Vivente González. Very quickly, Pascual became a master dominating the techniques of embossing and chiseling. Becoming a professor of metalwork at the Escuela de Artes y Oficiales Industriales de Toledo, he taught the techniques of blacksmithing, embossing, and enameling learned in the workshops of the Fábrica de Armas.
In 1906, at 25 years old, Pascual left his job at the Fábrica de Armas and set up his own blacksmithing workshop at his home, at 10 San Juan de la Penitencia Street. At this time, he had already received two Military Merit Crosses (1904) and a medal from the National Exhibition of Fine Arts in 1906, followed by another medal two years later.
During the 1920s, his work would earn the Silver Medal at the International Exhibition of Philadelphia in 1926 and he would be named a knight of the Order of Civil Merit of Alphonse XII (1929). His workshop was visited by high-profile figures such as King Alphonse XIII, Queen Marie of Romania, and Infanta Isabel, among others.
In 1930, Julio Pascual won the first Prize of the National Contest of Decorative Arts; in 1940 the Provincial Craftsmanship Award (1940) and in 1952 the Encomienda de la Orden Civil de Alfonso X el Sabio was bestowed upon him.
Considered the last great European blacksmith, a direct heir to old techniques from masters like Juan Francés, Domingo de Céspedes, and Francisco de Villalpando, Julio Pascual founded a prestigious workshop in Toledo where numerous disciples would be trained. His works, recognized internationally, are found all over the world, but the most significant part is in Toledo. Among his most important works should be noted the blacksmithing of the train station and the school of arts, the gate of the Mosque of Cristo de la Luz, the gates of the hermitage of Valle, or the tabernacle and lamps of the church of Santo Tomé.
Furthermore, Julio Pascual is cited and recognized for highly delicate interventions in his hometown. This is the case with the reconstruction in 1939 of the Arfe Monstrance from the cathedral, dismantled during the Civil War; the recovery of the small sculpture of the Resurrected Christ by El Greco, which was in pieces at the Tevera Hospital in 1936, or the restoration of the monumental gates of the convent of San Juan de la Penitencia, consumed by flames during the Civil War.
Recently, many works of the artist have been identified on the peninsula. This is the case of the blacksmithing of the mausoleum of his friend Manuel de Falla in the Cathedral of Cadiz or a superb gate of the Collegiate Church of Saint Isidore in León.
In 1919, Julio Pascual became a numerary member of the Real Academia de Bellas Artes y Ciencias Históricas de Toledo and read a speech titled La Rejería Toledana. He would always remain close to the institution and would serve as its director for two long decades. In 1968, the city council of Toledo posthumously awarded him the Silver Medal of the city.