''A los héroes del dos de mayo'' or ''Al pueblo del dos de mayo de 1808'' is an instance of public art in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

, Spain. A sculptural work by

Aniceto Marinas Aniceto Marinas García (born 17 April 1866 in Segovia – died 23 September 1953 in Madrid) was a Spanish sculptor. He studied at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, taking further studies at the . He became Director of the Real ...

, the monument is an homage to the role of the Madrilenian people during the 1808

Dos de mayo uprising On the 2 and 3 May 1808 the Dos de Mayo or Second of May Uprising of 1808 took place in Madrid, Spain. It was a rebellion by civilians alongside some military against the occupation of the city by French troops, provoking a heavy-hand repress ...

History and description

Originally sculpted in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

in 1891, the sculptural group depicts a winged statue holding a banner that emerges on top of a soldier, a cannon, a small boy and a number of corpses, male and female alike. The ensemble was inaugurated in the morning of 4 May 1808 at its original location on the (''glorieta de San Bernardo''), with the (Mayor of Madrid) and

Antonio Maura Antonio Maura Montaner (2 May 1853 – 13 December 1925) was Prime Minister of Spain on five separate occasions. Early life Maura was born in Palma, on the island of Mallorca, and studied law in Madrid. In 1878, Maura married Constanci ...

(Prime Minister) intervening as speakers in the ceremony, and

Alfonso XIII Alfonso XIII (17 May 1886 – 28 February 1941), also known as El Africano or the African, was King of Spain from 17 May 1886 to 14 April 1931, when the Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed. He was a monarch from birth as his father, Alfo ...

eventually proceeding to unveil the monument. There was no time to cast the

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

for the inauguration, and instead the

plaster Plaster is a building material used for the protective or decorative coating of walls and ceilings and for Molding (decorative), moulding and casting decorative elements. In English, "plaster" usually means a material used for the interiors of ...

model of the sculptural group was installed, secretly disguised by a greenish paint, which soon faded after the rains, to the surprise of the Madrilenian people. In October 1908, the bronze statue, cast in Madrid by "La Metaloplástica. Campins y Codina" foundry, was put on the pedestal. The cylindrical stone pedestal features an inscription reading "" ("to the People of the 2 May 1808"), surmounted by a bronze rendition of the municipal coat of arms. Over the years, the monument was moved to the and, in the 1960s, to its current location in some gardens near the

Plaza de España Plaza de España (Square of Spain) may refer to: In Spain * Plaça d'Espanya, Barcelona in Barcelona * Plaça d'Espanya (Palma) in Palma, Mallorca * Plaza de España, Madrid in Madrid * Plaza de España (Pontevedra) in Pontevedra * Plaza de Es ...

and, since the 1970s, also the

Temple of Debod The Temple of Debod ( es, Templo de Debod) is an ancient Egyptian temple that was dismantled as part of the International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia and rebuilt in the center of Madrid, Spain, in Parque de la Montaña, Madrid, a squa ...

References

;Information notes ;Citations ;Bibliography * * {{Cite journal, last=Portela Sandoval, first=Francisco José, year=2007, journal=Madrid. Revista de Arte, Geografía e Historia, issue=9, publisher=Consejería de Educación de la Comunidad de Madrid, location=Madrid, issn=1139-5362, title=La Guerra de la Independencia y el monumento público: los ejemplos madrileños, pages=289–318, url=http://www.madrid.org/bvirtual/BVCM001786.pdf, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200716084427/http://www.madrid.org/bvirtual/BVCM001786.pdf, archive-date=2020-07-16 Monuments and memorials in Madrid Outdoor sculptures in Madrid Statues in Spain Buildings and structures in Argüelles neighborhood, Madrid Bronze sculptures in Spain Peninsular War monuments and memorials