El Petó de la Mort (The Kiss of Death), Poblenou Cemetery, Barcelona, Spain
El petó
de la mort
Signed J. Barba · 1930 · Poblenou Cemetery
Photo as published on Street Art Utopia
A winged skeleton kisses a dying young man on a family tomb in Barcelona. The pedestal is signed J. Barba, but Barba’s great-grandson says the design was by Barba’s son-in-law, Joan Fontbernat, working from a photo of a relief in Milan.
4 things to know
- Signed Barba. Designed by Fontbernat?The octagonal pedestal is signed “J. Barba”, the name Jaume Barba’s marble workshop signed its work with. His great-grandson writes that the group was conceived by the workshop’s leading sculptor, Barba’s son-in-law Joan Fontbernat, and that an apprentice, Artemi Barba, carved Death’s ribs. Wikipedia (de) · Barba family blog
- Borrowed from MilanBarba’s great-grandson says Fontbernat started from a photograph of a relief Lorenzo Maroni carved around 1910 for the Mentasti family in Milan’s Cimitero Monumentale. betevé, citing historian Adrià Terol, also says the sculpture was inspired by a Maroni relief there. Barba family blog · betevé
- One line was changedThe epitaph is four lines from Jacint Verdaguer’s epic L’Atlàntida, about a young shipwrecked sailor. Where Verdaguer’s sailor, his senses gone, clings to the mast (“al pal s’abraça”), the tomb has the young man embrace faith (“la fe”). Verdaguer, 1886 edition · Pobles de Catalunya
- Whose son?Catalonia’s heritage agency calls the group a staging of Josep Llaudet Soler’s grief for his son. Barba’s great-grandson says the commission came from Teresa Soler Pintó, “widow of Llaudet”, when her son died. None of the sources we read gives the young man’s name. Patrimoni Cultural · Barba family blog
Check-in guide
- 📍
- Poblenou Cemetery, Avinguda d’Icària 204, Barcelona. The Llaudet tomb is in Department 3, no. 63 (Pobles de Catalunya).
- 🕒
- Open every day from 8:00 to 18:00, according to Barcelona’s tourism office (checked 29 September 2026).
- 🚶
- The visitor route suggested at the cemetery entrance passes 30 notable monuments and sculptures and ends here (Wikipedia, de).
- 🔎
- Look for “J. Barba” cut into the front of one side of the octagonal pedestal (Wikipedia, de), and for Verdaguer’s lines at the base (betevé).
Sightings
- 1930Made
In Jaume Barba’s workshop
- 200915 Aug
Photo taken
- 2014Oct
Added to the night tour
- 201721 Jun
Photo taken
- 202426 Oct
Press photos
- 20259 Apr
Book-launch walk
- 20254 Dec
Visit report
Every stamp links to the dated source.
On the record
‘El petó de la mort’, l’escultura més famosa del cementiri del Poblenou
“Terol assenyala que encara que El petó de la mort porta la signatura dels tallers de Jaume Barba, es creu que l’autor és Joan Fontbernat”
“Terol points out that although The Kiss of Death bears the signature of Jaume Barba’s workshops, the author is believed to be Joan Fontbernat.”
El bes de la Mort, el vers petrificat de Mossèn Cinto
“…va ser concebuda per l’escultor més destacat d’aquell taller i gendre de l’amo, en Joan Fontbernat, casat amb la seva filla Dolors.”
“…it was conceived by that workshop’s most outstanding sculptor, the owner’s son-in-law Joan Fontbernat, married to his daughter Dolors.” The author is Jaume Barba’s great-grandson.
Les ciutats dels morts, espais plens de vida
“una escenificació del dol de Josep Llaudet Soler per la prematura defunció del seu fill. Es tracta d’una obra de Jaume Barba”
“a staging of Josep Llaudet Soler’s grief at the premature death of his son. It is a work by Jaume Barba”
El petó de la mort
“va figurar entre les més destacades escultures funeràries en una exposició fotogràfica celebrada a Berlín en 1991”
“…featured among the most notable funerary sculptures in a photographic exhibition held in Berlin in 1991.” betevé (2025) gives the year as 1980.
Una aplicació mòbil descobreix el patrimoni artístic del cementiri del Poblenou
“…com a novetat, farà parada en una de les peces més destacades del recinte, la del Petó de la Mort.”
“…as something new, [the night tour] will stop at one of the site’s most outstanding pieces, the Kiss of Death.”
The facts
- Title
- El petó de la mort (The Kiss of Death); in Spanish El beso de la muerte Checked
- Made
- 1930, in white marble, in Jaume Barba’s marble workshop in Barcelona Checked
- Signed
- “J. Barba”, on the front of one side of the octagonal pedestal Checked
- Sculptor
- Credited to Jaume Barba by Catalonia’s heritage agency and Barcelona City Council. Barba’s great-grandson says Barba’s son-in-law, Joan Fontbernat, designed it (family blog); betevé says Fontbernat is believed to be the author; Pobles de Catalunya says he may have taken part. Conflicting
- Death’s ribs
- Carved by Artemi Barba, then an apprentice, according to the Barba family blog Reported
- Model
- A relief by Lorenzo Maroni for the Mentasti family tomb, Cimitero Monumentale, Milan, around 1910. The Barba family blog shows photos of it; betevé also names Maroni. We have not checked it in Milan. Reported
- In memory of
- A young son. Patrimoni Cultural and Pobles de Catalunya: the son of textile industrialist Josep Llaudet Soler. The Barba family blog: the son of Teresa Soler Pintó, “widow of Llaudet”. betevé says he died as a teenager. None of the sources we read names him. Conflicting
- Epitaph
- Four lines from Jacint Verdaguer’s L’Atlàntida (1877), with the sailor who clings to the mast (“al pal s’abraça”) changed to one who embraces faith Checked
- Berlin photo
- A photo of it was shown at an exhibition in Berlin: in 1980 according to betevé (2025, citing Adrià Terol), in 1991 according to Josep Maria Melcior’s blog (2009). No one names the exhibition. Conflicting
- Status
- Standing. On 9 April 2025 a City Council book launch at the cemetery ended with a walk past it (Info Barcelona); the latest dated report is a visit article published on 4 December 2025 (Shanomag). Reported
Help us finish this file
- Who took the photo at the top of this page?
- Which exhibition in Berlin showed a photo of the tomb, and was it in 1980 or 1991?
- The young man’s name, age and date of death, and whose son he was: Josep Llaudet Soler’s or Teresa Soler Pintó’s.
- The city works permit for the tomb, filed under Jaume Barba’s name: its date and file number. A reader comment on the Barba family blog reads the drawing as dated 1 September 1920 and suggests the son was Enrique Llaudet Soler, who died in April 1917. Can anyone confirm either?
- The size of the group, and a dated 2026 photo of it.
Know one of these, or have a dated photo? Leave a comment below.
Related
- The source post on Street Art Utopia: When Sculptures Come Alive (9 Photos vol. 2) (2026). The same photo appears in Sculptures You (probably) Didn’t Know Existed (30 Photos) (2025).
- Same workshop: the Falcón Vernís pantheon in Puigcerdà cemetery, another tomb signed by the workshop (Patrimoni Funerari).
All sources (18)
Heritage records and the city
- Pobles de Catalunya: “Sepulcre Llaudet (El Petó de la Mort)”, heritage inventory entry, undated, photos 2019. Location, 1930, marble, commission, epitaph. In Catalan.
- Generalitat de Catalunya, Patrimoni Cultural: “Les ciutats dels morts, espais plens de vida”, undated. In Catalan.
- Patrimoni Funerari.cat: “Taller marbrista J. Barba”, undated. The workshop, Fontbernat, the Llaudet pantheon in white marble. In Catalan.
- Ajuntament de Barcelona (Info Barcelona): “‘Art, architecture and memory at the service of death’ reveals Barcelona’s cemeteries to us as open-air museums”, 10 April 2025. In English.
- Turisme de Barcelona: “Cementiri de Poblenou”, undated. Address and opening hours, checked 29 September 2026. In English.
The Barba family
- Piscolabis Librorum (Albert Domènech, Jaume Barba’s great-grandson): “El bes de la Mort, el vers petrificat de Mossèn Cinto”, 1 November 2008, revised later. Fontbernat, Artemi Barba, the Milan model, the commission, the permit drawing. In Catalan.
Press
- betevé: “Una aplicació mòbil descobreix el patrimoni artístic del cementiri del Poblenou”, Sílvia Carbonell, 29 October 2014. In Catalan.
- Catalan News: “Poblenou Cemetery: the city of the dead that inspired others around Catalonia”, Emma Monrós Rosell, 26 October 2024. In English.
- betevé: “‘El petó de la mort’, l’escultura més famosa del cementiri del Poblenou”, Jordi Escofet, 2 January 2025. In Catalan.
Guides, blogs and reference
- Tot passejant (Josep Maria Melcior): “El petó de la mort”, September 2009. The Berlin exhibition in 1991. In Catalan.
- Atlas Obscura: “‘El Petó de la Mort’ (‘The Kiss of Death’)”, 9 November 2021, updated 26 January 2023. In English.
- Shanomag: “The Kiss of Death & Other Wonders Inside Cementiri del Poblenou”, 4 December 2025. Visit report. In English.
- Wikipedia (German): “El petó de la mort”. The signature and the visitor route. In German.
- Viquitexts: Jacint Verdaguer, “La Atlantida (1886)”, page 32. The original lines of the epitaph. In Catalan.
Photos and video
- Flickr, Tony Bailey: “El Petó de la Mort”, taken 15 August 2009.
- Flickr, Aviones Plateados: “El Petó de la Mort / The Kiss of Death / El Beso de la Muerte”, taken 21 June 2017.
- Wikimedia Commons, PELYgROSA: photos of the signature and the epitaph, 2017. CC BY-SA 4.0.
- betevé (YouTube): “El PETÓ DE LA MORT | betevé”, 31 January 2024. In Catalan.
Artwork File · Last checked 29 September 2026 · Certainty labels follow How We Verify Art · All Artwork Files