09 December, 2022

José Berzosa

José Eugenio Velicia Berzosa was a Spanish priest known for being the creator of Las Edades del Hombre together with the writer José Jiménez Lozano, a series of exhibitions dedicated to to the sacred art of Castilla y León. He was awarded in 1997 with the El Norte de Castilla and National prizes for Restoration and Conservation of Cultural Assets (posthumously), from the Ministry of Culture of the Government of Spain.

He completed his first studies at the local school and later went to the diocesan seminary to begin his ecclesiastical studies. He completed a degree in Canon Law at the Pontifical University of Salamanca. 

He was ordained a priest in 1955, being assigned to the parish of Olmedo, belonging at that time to the diocese of Ávila. There he spent five years and met José Jiménez Lozano, a resident of the town of Alcazarén, with whom years later he would create the first exhibition of Las Edades del Hombre.

In 1960 he was called to the capital of Valladolid by Archbishop José García y Goldaraz, occupying different positions: chaplain of Catholic Action, spiritual director of the Colegio Mayor San Juan Evangelista and curate of the parish of San Ildefonso, taking charge of the construction of a new temple. He was also director of the "Nuestra Señora del Carmen" Women's Branch Center.

Years later, with Archbishop José Delicado Baeza , he left parish tasks in San Ildefonso to dedicate himself to other diocesan positions: pastoral vicar of urban parishes, delegate of the Secular Apostolate, diocesan judge, delegate of the Media, pro-vicar general of the diocese, episcopal vicar of Zone 2 City, episcopal delegate for the Faith and Culture Dialogue and, finally, curator of Las Edades del Hombre during its first six editions, until his death.

The idea for this series of exhibitions comes from a similar event, "Thesaurus", that a friend of his organized in Barcelona. His friend, the writer José Jiménez Lozano, helped him make the idea come true. He obtained economic and technical collaboration from the Caja de Salamanca y Soria, the architect Pablo Puente Aparicio and Eloísa García de Wattenberg , director of the National Museum of Sculpture .

The initial project included four editions: the first, in the Cathedral of Valladolid (1988-1989), dedicated to the Plastic Arts; the second, in the Cathedral of Burgos (1990), addressed the historical documents of the archives; the third, in the Cathedral of León (1991-1992), was dedicated to music; and what was originally going to be the fourth and last, in the Cathedral of Salamanca (1993-1994), dedicated to the dialogue between Faith and Art, between ancient and contemporary art (El contrapunto y su morada).

The success of these editions led to the organization of a fifth, in Antwerp (1995), the great Flemish city of the s. XVI, showing the relationship of Castilla y León with Flanders. A sixth edition was commissioned from him, taking place in the Cathedral of El Burgo de Osma, on the occasion of the anniversary of the Diocese, entitled The six-story city. Although he selected the pieces and visited their assembly, his failing health prevented him from attending the opening, and he died a few weeks later.

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