Ulpiano Checa

ULPIANO CHECA (Colmenar de Oreja, Madrid, 1860 – Dax, France, 1916).
“Course romaine,” c. 1890.
Gilded bronze and antique green marble.
Bears the Émile Pinedo foundry mark
Signed.
Measurements: 33 x 64 x 20 cm; 13.5 x 53 x 24 cm (base).
Checa achieved international recognition for his depictions of classical antiquity, particularly chariot races, in which he combined meticulous detail in the rendering of horses and historical costumes with a striking sense of movement. The painting *Roman Chariot Race*, presented at the 1890 Paris Salon, was instrumental in popularizing this subject matter.
Sculptural versions, such as this one, translate that dynamic aesthetic into bronze, a material particularly well-suited to capturing the tension of the animals, the speed of the chariot, and the drama of the competition. An important point of comparison for this piece is the “Roman Chariot” sculpture housed at the Ulpiano Checa Museum in Colmenar de Oreja, cast in bronze and measuring 37 × 67 × 24 cm. The museum itself notes the existence of several examples with minor differences, attributable to the use of different casting molds. Furthermore, the reference to Émile Pinedo is particularly relevant for contextualizing the sculpture, as his Parisian foundry produced art bronzes during the second half of the 19th century and the early decades of the 20th.
A Spanish painter, sculptor, and illustrator, Ulpiano Checa began his training at the School of Arts and Crafts in Madrid and continued his studies at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando, where he was a student of Federico de Madrazo, Alejandro Ferrant, and Manuel Domínguez, among others. In 1884, he received a scholarship to study at the Spanish Academy of Fine Arts in Rome, a decisive period in the development of his history painting and works on classical themes.
He gained recognition with *The Invasion of the Barbarians*, which won first prize at the 1887 National Exhibition of Fine Arts and second prize at the 1888 Vienna World’s Fair. Having settled in Paris in the late 1880s, he established an international career characterized by his dynamic scenes of Roman antiquity, his equestrian compositions, and his Orientalist depictions. In 1894, he was awarded the French Legion of Honor, and in 1900, he won a gold medal at the Paris World’s Fair for *The Last Days of Pompeii*. His artistic work also encompassed sculpture, illustration, and the publication of a treatise on perspective. His legacy is preserved primarily at the Ulpiano Checa Museum in Colmenar de Oreja, a museum dedicated exclusively to his work that houses the artist’s paintings, drawings, watercolors, engravings, and sculptures. His work is also represented in international public collections, including the National Museum of Visual Arts in Montevideo, which houses his painting *The Couple*, and the Mitre Museum in Buenos Aires, where his equestrian portrait of General Bartolomé Mitre is on display.