Sagrada Familia Sculptor Sotoo Etsurō—A Half Century in the Service of Gaudí’s Open-Ended Masterpiece

Sotoo Etsurō. (© Hanai Tomoko)

Sotoo works atop a 60-meter-high scaffolding, sometime around 1978. (© Sotoo Kikaku)

Top: Sotoo works on the Portal of the Rosary, around 1980. Bottom, from left to right: The sculptures of the girl and boy restored by Sotoo. (© Sotoo Kikaku)

Sotoo in front of the Nativity Façade of the Sagrada Familia in 2010. (© Reuters)

Baskets of ripe fruit top the side aisle pinnacles on the outer walls of the Sagrada Família. (© Sotoo Kikaku)

(© Hanai Tomoko)

The Sagrada Familia with the newly complete Tower of Jesus at its center in June 2026. (© AFP/Jiji)

(© Hanai Tomoko)