World Art Utopia

El descendimiento

Five visitors recreate the five-figure white marble group El descendimiento by Virginio Arias in the hall of the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Santiago, Chile.
Artwork FileSantiago, Chile

El descendimiento

SeenAug 2025

Virginio Arias · Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Santiago, Chile · 1887

Photo: photographer not named in our source, as published on Street Art Utopia.

Virginio Arias carved this five-figure marble group, The Descent from the Cross, in 1887. Chile’s Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes acquired it in 1890 and shows it in its central hall. Source Source Source Checked

Seen Aug 2025: the museum’s artist site, in a feature dated 22 August 2025, says the work can be visited in the museum hall. Source Checked

More photos

Virginio Arias's white marble group El descendimiento seen whole from the front on its low plinth in the hall of the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Santiago, with no visitors in front of it.
2025 The whole group, unobstructed, in the museum hallPhoto: Rjcastillo / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

đź’ˇ 5 things to know

  1. Five figuresThe heritage record describes five figures: four bear the weight of the collapsing central body, with a veiled woman above and a young woman weeping at his feet. Source Source Checked
  2. Medals in ParisArias showed it at the 1887 Salon in Paris and won a third-class medal; two years later it won a first-class medal at the Paris Universal Exhibition. Source Source Checked
  3. A prize in BuffaloSURDOC adds a first medal at the Buffalo exposition of 1901. Source Checked
  4. Bought in 1890It entered the museum in 1890 by purchase; SURDOC gives its provenance as the Government of Chile. Source Source Checked
  5. Over two metres tallThe marble measures 224 cm high, 153 cm wide and 165 cm deep. Source Source Checked

đź“Ť Where it is

In the central hall of the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, José Miguel de la Barra 650, Santiago. Source Source Checked

Open in Maps

Opens Google Maps at the museum (-33.43534, -70.64358).

🗓️ Sightings

  1. 1887

    Third-class medal, Paris Salon · MNBA

  2. 1889

    First-class medal, Universal Exhibition · MNBA

  3. 1890

    Enters the museum’s collection · SURDOC

  4. 1901

    First medal, Buffalo · SURDOC

  5. 1903

    Pictured in a book on Chile · Carlos Tornero

  6. 201415 May

    Photographed in the museum · camera date

  7. 202516 Jul

    Photographed in the museum hall · camera date

  8. 202522 Aug

    On view in the museum hall · MNBA

Green stamps mark dated photographs; amber stamps mark records or reports; red stamps mark loss. Publication dates are not camera dates.

🗞️ In the sources

Artistas Visuales Chilenos (MNBA)Virginio Arias, 22 Aug 2025

“Adquirida por el Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes en 1890, esta obra se puede visitar en el hall del museo.”

Acquired by the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in 1890, this work can be visited in the museum hall.

Read the source →

Pontificia Universidad CatĂłlica de ChileRector’s letter, undated

““El descendimiento”, escultura en mármol, que se encuentra en el Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes”

“El descendimiento”, a marble sculpture, which is in the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes

Read the source →

âś… The facts

Artist
Virginio Arias Source Source Source Checked
Title
El descendimiento (also El descendimiento de la cruz) Source Source Checked
Material
Carved marble (white marble, per the NYU record) Source Source Source Checked
Size
224 Ă— 153 Ă— 165 cm Source Source Checked
Owner
Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, inventory ESC-0046 (SURDOC 2-717) Source Checked
Acquired
1890, by purchase Source Source Checked
Status today
On display in the central hall (SURDOC); can be visited in the hall (MNBA, 22 Aug 2025) Source Source Checked

đź”— Related

All sources & image credits

Last checked: 3 November 2026. How we verify art