Monument to Galdós (Madrid) (original) (raw)

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Statue by Victorio Macho in Buen Retiro park, Madrid, Spain

Galdós
Map
40°24′43″N 3°40′49″W / 40.412069°N 3.680151°W / 40.412069; -3.680151
Location El Retiro, Madrid, Spain
Designer Victorio Macho
Material Granite
Opening date 20 January 1919
Dedicated to Benito Pérez Galdós

Galdós or the Monument to Galdós is a sculpture in Madrid, Spain. A work by Victorio Macho, it is dedicated to Benito Pérez Galdós. It lies on the southern part of El Retiro.

History and description

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An initiative of friends and admirers of the writer such as the Quintero brothers, José Francés [es], González Blanco and Emiliano Ramírez Ángel [es], in 1918 the project was entrusted to Victorio Macho, who had already carried out a study of the facial features of Galdós in the past.[1] The material costs were funded via popular subscription.[2]

The sculpture represents Galdós towards the end of his life, sitting on an armchair (with arms in the form of lions), with his legs covered by a blanket.[2][3]

The monument was unveiled during an emotive ceremony on 20 January 1919, attended by Galdós himself.[2] Tomás Borrás Bermejo, Emiliano Ramírez Ángel, Ramón Pérez de Ayala and Enrique de Mesa were among those in attendance.[4] An ageing Galdós (he would die less than a year later)—ill of uremia and nearly completely blind—felt the statue with his fingers and told Macho: "Magnificent, my friend Macho. And he looks so much like me!".[5]

The work brought fame to the then young Macho and boosted his incipient career.[6]

Citations

  1. ^ Mesa 2011, p. 647.
  2. ^ a b c Montero Padilla 2011, p. 72.
  3. ^ Aparisi Laporta 2011, p. 30.
  4. ^ Aparisi Laporta 2011, p. 31.
  5. ^ Mesa 2011, p. 649.
  6. ^ Sardá 2018.

Bibliography