Biography

Rafael Amezúa was a blacksmith active in the second quarter of the 18th century. Information about his life is limited; however, it appears that he was a native of Elorrio (Vizcaya). It is likely that his trade was influenced by the familial environment in which he was raised (Urrea, 1978), as during the same decade, a Gaspar Amezúa from Elorrio is documented working on the choir screen of the Church of Santa María del Palacio in Logroño. In 1740, Rafael Amezúa created two screens for Cuenca Cathedral, and a few years later, in 1763, it is believed that he may have also crafted the screen for the Cathedral of Valladolid. This screen was sold by the cathedral chapter in 1929 to Arthur Byne, an agent of William Randolph Hearst (Martínez Ruiz, 2008). In 1956, it became part of the collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, where it remains today.