In this Catalan name, the first or paternal surname is Vilar and the second or maternal family name is Roca; both are generally joined by the conjunction "i".
Upon his return to Spain, he became an instructor at the Escola. He served in that position until 1845, when he and the painter Pelegrí Clavé received offers of employment in Mexico. There, he became the head of the sculpture classes at the Academia de San Carlos.[2]
During his tenure, he insisted on the rigorous study of anatomical models, the sketching of classical examples, practicing on blocks of marble, making plaster castings, and modelling with clay. He worked with religious and historical subjects, as well as the classics, which included themes from the Pre-Hispanic history of Mexico. Although his style owed much to Romanticism, he also introduced elements of Realism; giving his work an eclectic character.[1]
He died of pneumonia, aged only forty-eight, and was interred at the iglesia de Jesús Nazareno [es], where his students created a monument in his memory.[1]
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