The sculptor died at the age of 90 and leaves behind a wide and versatile work
The master craftsman Manuel Nicolás Almansa (San Ginés, Murcia, January 1, 1932) has died at the age of 90 in Murcia, leaving an important legacy in the region’s nativity scene crafts, although he also made outstanding sculptures with orchard themes, such as the monument to the huertano, and busts of distinguished characters, such as the Nobel Prize for Literature José Echegaray, and the sculpture that commemorates the 32nd anniversary of the Spanish Constitution, located in the Regional Assembly. Among his prizes is the one received at the Madrid International Exhibition in 1953; Gold Medal for the National Work of Crafts, Distinguished Craftsman and Laurel de Murcia, all from 1972; and the Bronze Medal of the French Academy of Arts, Sciences and Letters, in 1988.
At just six years old he modeled his first nativity scene and after a brief foray into the world of bullfighting, his love for nativity crafts arose when he accompanied his brother José to the Salzillo Museum to remake the copy of the Salzillo Nativity scene commissioned by Manuel Guillén. From that moment on, José, Manuel and her father set up a workshop on the El Palmar highway.
After separating from his brother, he began to model his own figures and when he returned from military service he went to Madrid with a sample of 12-centimeter figures to market them. Here he really began his activity as a craftsman of the nativity scene. In 1962 he married Consuelo, and both she and her children work in the workshop set up by the craftsman, which is now half a century old.
He is a continuator of Salzillo’s work and the figures modeled by him are tremendously expressive and prototypes of Murcian baroque. He takes care of all the details of the figure in the modeling of it. He has held numerous exhibitions of his work throughout Spain. Nativity scenes by Manolo Nicolás are found in collections in Honduras, Venezuela, England, France, etc. And in the Museums of Decorative Arts in Madrid and the Spanish Village in Barcelona and the Vatican, in the section of the figures of Bethlehem. In the catalog of the master’s workshop there are more than 200 pieces manufactured in different sizes.