Virginio Arias

Virginio Arias Cruz (8 December 1855, Ránquil - 17 January 1941, Santiago de Chile) was a Chilean sculptor and art teacher.

The following year, he enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts, where he studied with François Jouffroy, Alexandre Falguière and Jean-Paul Laurens.

His most notable work was a monument to "El Roto Chileno" (the common man, originally "A Hero of the Pacific"), which won a contest at the Salon in 1882.

Most sources say that he returned to Europe and remained there until the 1930s, but several familiar Chilean artists, including José Perotti, Samuel Román Rojas and Laura Rodig, are said to have been his students at the Academia in the early 1920s.

Among his religious works, the most famous is "El Descendimiento" (The Descent from the Cross), a marble ensemble that is preserved at the National Museum.