Spanish (Catalan) · Funerary sculpture
Jaume Barba
b. Barcelona
Jaume Barba was a Catalan sculptor from Barcelona whose name is carved on El Petó de la Mort (The Kiss of Death, 1930), the marble winged skeleton kissing a young man in Barcelona's Poblenou Cemetery.
1 work in the collection
Works by Jaume Barba
Jaume Barba was a sculptor from Barcelona, active in the early twentieth century in the city's funerary workshops. He is known today almost entirely for one work: El Petó de la Mort (The Kiss of Death), a marble monument of 1930 in the Cementiri de Poblenou.
What we know
Reliable biographical information about Barba is scarce. Authority records identify him as a Catalan sculptor born in Barcelona, but we have not been able to confirm his dates, training or other works, and we do not repeat the unsourced details that circulate online.
El Petó de la Mort
The monument marks the grave of Josep Llaudet Soler, from a Barcelona textile family. Death appears as a winged skeleton who supports a nude young man and presses a kiss to his forehead as he sinks back, eyes closed. The base carries lines by the Catalan poet Jacint Verdaguer describing a young heart that can no longer beat and, falling, feels the kiss of death.
Barba's name is carved on the monument, but the design is sometimes credited to Joan Fontbernat, with Barba's workshop carving it. The two names therefore appear together in most accounts, and the attribution is best treated as open.
It has become one of the most photographed funerary monuments in Barcelona. For related imagery see the Danse Macabre and death in art.
Questions & answers
Who made El Petó de la Mort?
El Petó de la Mort (The Kiss of Death, 1930) in Barcelona's Poblenou Cemetery is usually attributed to the sculptor Jaume Barba, whose name is carved on it. Some writers credit the design to Joan Fontbernat.
Where is The Kiss of Death sculpture?
It stands on the Llaudet family tomb in the Cementiri de Poblenou, one of Barcelona's historic cemeteries. The cemetery is open to visitors and runs guided routes that include the monument.
Who was Jaume Barba?
Jaume Barba was a Catalan sculptor from Barcelona who worked on funerary monuments in the early twentieth century. Few verified details of his life survive beyond his association with El Petó de la Mort.