Eusebi Arnau

EUSEBI ARNAU MASCORT (Barcelona, 1863–1933).
Original prototype for a safe. Barcelona, ca. 1903.
Wooden core, gilded and polychrome plaster.
Relief decorations depicting the Deadly Sins, plant motifs, and zoomorphic figures.
Signed “E. Arnau” on the lower part of the right door.
It has minor damage and a few cracks.
Measurements: 216 x 110 x 80 cm.

This original prototype for a safe is a work of particular significance within Eusebi Arnau’s body of work. It is a monumental-scale presentation model, on whose wooden core the sculptor modeled the ornamental program in gilded and polychrome plaster to define its final appearance.

The piece takes the form of a cabinet raised on an architectural base of pointed arches. The doors and sides are adorned with figurative reliefs, while the bands and latches—also modeled and polychromed—simulate large metal fittings. The top, covered by a scaly surface, is crowned by a winged figure holding a scythe, alluding to Time and linked to the iconography of Saturn.

Arnau transforms the surfaces into an extensive sculptural program dedicated to the Deadly Sins. Female figures, intertwined bodies, children, animals, and plant forms are arranged in compositions of pronounced movement, modeled with the anatomical fluidity and ornamental sensibility characteristic of Modernism. The reliefs are part of a unified project in which architecture, sculpture, and symbolic function are integrated from the design phase onward.

The iconography establishes a particularly significant relationship with the object’s purpose: in contrast to the protective function of the safe, designed to safeguard valuables, the Deadly Sins allude to greed, desire, and excess. This contrast between material security and moral fragility lends the prototype a conceptual depth uncommon in the decorative arts of the period.

As an original model, it offers a direct insight into Arnau’s creative process and the importance he placed on modeling prior to its eventual translation into final materials. Preserved as a standalone piece, the work stands as a unique testament to the integration of the arts championed by Catalan Modernism.

Eusebi Arnau was a key figure in Catalan Modernist sculpture. Trained at the School of Fine Arts in Barcelona and in Paris, he collaborated with Lluís Domènech i Montaner and Josep Puig i Cadafalch on some of the major projects of Barcelona Modernism. His work, represented in the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, proved decisive in the incorporation of sculpture into architecture and the decorative arts.