Cayetano Hilario Abellán (born 21 May 1916 in

Argamasilla de Alba Argamasilla de Alba is a municipality in the Province of Ciudad Real, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. It has a population of 6,791. According to local legend, ''Don Quixote'' author Miguel de Cervantes was held prisoner here, and refers to the municip ...

, Spain – died 1997) was a Spanish self-taught sculptor who produced sculptures based on different themes. His work is known because of his group of characters from the

Miguel de Cervantes Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 Old Style and New Style dates, NS) was an Early Modern Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-emin ...

' well known novel ''

Don Quixote is a Spanish epic novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615, its full title is ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'' or, in Spanish, (changing in Part 2 to ). A founding work of Wester ...

'' (''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha''), among others.

Biography

Son of Cayetano Hilario, mayor of Argamasilla de Alba during the II Republic and the Spanish civil war and Juliana Abellán, he was the third of six sons. He affiliated with the

communist party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...

Francoist Spain Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spai ...

. Cayetano, like others that fought the

Nationalists Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

in the Spanish civil war went to jail during 1944–1945. He lost one of his brothers during the war, Julián Hilario. He found his passion in sculpture as a child, he began his career as a bricklayer and self-taught himself the art of sculpture in his free time, it wasn't until the civil war was over when he switched his career to sculpture. His sculptures, of

Quixotic Quixotic may refer to: * Quixotism, deriving from the novel ''Don Quixote'' * ''Quixotic'' (album), an album by Martina Topley-Bird * Quix*o*tic Quix*o*tic was a rock band active from 1997 to 2002 in the area of Washington, D.C., United States. T ...

religious Religion is usually defined as a social system, social-cultural system of designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morality, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sacred site, sanctified places, prophecy, prophecie ...

costumbrism ''Costumbrismo'' (sometimes anglicized as costumbrism, with the adjectival form costumbrist) is the literary or pictorial interpretation of local everyday life, mannerisms, and customs, primarily in the Hispanic scene, and particularly in the 19t ...

themes, can be seen in

and other villages around. His main source of inspiration was the book ''

Don Quijote de La Mancha Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name *Don, Benin, a town in Benin *Don, Dang, a vill ...

'', which is said to be partly written in

. Cayetano himself helped on the restoration of the , the jail where it is said that

Cervantes Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 Old Style and New Style dates, NS) was an Early Modern Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-emin ...

started writing the book while a prisoner. Because of his political views, he was once in Francoist Spain denied the prize of a contest from which he was the winner, but Cayetano, like many others in Argamasilla de Alba was a peaceful man that respected other people's opinions, in his own words: «I am friend with everyone and everyone is my friend. I have friends of all ideologies. I am a

and

traditional A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...

man. I understand politics as a fight of ideas, not as a road to violence.» He married Cristina Torres, with whom he had four children. Due to his artistic career, the city council named him favourite son of the town on September 7, 1979. Cayetano died in 1997. In 2016 two memorial plaques that recall the places where Cayetano Hilario lived and worked were erected in Argamasilla de Alba.

Works

Hilario's works are mostly shown and located at public places scattered on several towns and villages in

La Mancha La Mancha () is a natural and historical region located in the Spanish provinces of Albacete, Cuenca, Ciudad Real, and Toledo. La Mancha is an arid but fertile plateau (610 m or 2000 ft) that stretches from the mountains of Toledo to the ...

region. The rest of his pieces belong to private owners. Being an admirer of

Auguste Rodin François Auguste René Rodin (12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor, generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a uniqu ...

and

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (; 6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), known as Michelangelo (), was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was insp ...

’s sculptures, as well as a tireless reader of Cervantes’s novels, Cayetano Hilario expresses part of his artistic inspiration by materializing the main characters of Cervantes’ book into “realistic” personages in natural sizes. In order to do so, he used the people around him basically his family and native friends as models.

Don Quixote is a Spanish epic novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615, its full title is ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'' or, in Spanish, (changing in Part 2 to ). A founding work of Wester ...

This sculptural group, inspired by the book of ''

'', consists of four masterpieces: ''

Don Quijote Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name *Don, Benin, a town in Benin *Don, Dang, a vill ...

'', his squire ''

Sancho Panza Sancho Panza () is a fictional character in the novel ''Don Quixote'' written by Spanish author Don Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra in 1605. Sancho acts as squire to Don Quixote and provides comments throughout the novel, known as ''sanchismos'', ...

'', his idealized Lady, ''

Dulcinea del Toboso Dulcinea del Toboso is a fictional character who is unseen in Miguel de Cervantes' novel ''Don Quijote''. Don Quijote believes he must have a lady, under the mistaken view that chivalry requires it. As he does not have one, he invents her, mak ...

'', and the writer Miguel de Cervantes himself, placed in main squares in Abellan's place of birth. We can admire in this group of sculptures, an impressive ''

'', which represents the Honourable Knight when he was still Alonso Quijano. He is humanized as an inhabitant of the Village, who would later become an idealist knight who wants to fight against the injustices of the world. The sculpture shows us Alonso Quijano while he is reading one of his countless books of chivalry orders leaning on one hand and looking up, imaging his next adventures.

Sancho Panza Sancho Panza () is a fictional character in the novel ''Don Quixote'' written by Spanish author Don Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra in 1605. Sancho acts as squire to Don Quixote and provides comments throughout the novel, known as ''sanchismos'', ...

The figure of ''

'' seems to be a native of the Village, as well. ''Sancho'' is carrying some wine and cheese, which are typical products from this area.

Dulcinea of La Mancha

The '' Aldonza Lorenzo'' sculpture- named ''Dulcinea of La Mancha'' (''Dulzura of La Mancha'') by ''Don Quijote''. This sculpture has been modeled by the Sculptor into a realistic country young woman with a pitcher full of water in a confident attitude towards the future.

Cervantes Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 Old Style and New Style dates, NS) was an Early Modern Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-emin ...

Abellán completes this sculptural group with his work on the writer

. We can admire this great masterpiece of the Spanish writer from the 16th century. The Writer is sitting and has got a thoughtful attitude. One of his hands is holding some rolled paper and we can notice his maimed left hand, which gave the famous Writer the nickname of ''The one-handed man from Lepanto''.

Other sculptures in honour of writers and field works

Other sculptures created by the same Artist are sculptures made in honour of some well-known Spanish writers such as Azorín ( See picture) and the poets

Miguel Hernández Miguel Hernández Gilabert (30 October 1910 – 28 March 1942 ) was a 20th-century Spanish-language poet and playwright associated with the Generation of '27 and the Generation of '36 movements. Born and raised in a family of low resources, h ...

and Vicente Cano, and his pieces, made in recognition of several typical country professions, (such as ''The Shepherd'', ''The Harvester'' or ''The Grape harvest''), ''The National Teacher'' and Musicians.

References

Cayetano Hilario, the self-taught sculptor, will exhibit in what was Cervantes prison El País, 30 August, 1979Tribute to the 100th anniversary of his birth
His work in Wikimedia Commons
Tribute to CervantesTribute to the 400th anniversary of Cervantes deathTribute to Cayetano Hilario in his houseCensus of anti-Franco fighters
ttps://elpais.com/diario/1979/04/21/sociedad/293493602_850215.html Brief description by El Paísbr>Book: The academics of Argamasilla remember Cayetano Hilario, Ciudad Real 1985Book: The Trip of Don Quijote, by Julio Llamazares
ttp://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/madrid/abc/1972/02/27/037.html Plans to commemorate Víctor de la Serna with a bust by Cayetano Hilario, ABC, 27 February, 1972 {{DEFAULTSORT:Hilario Abellan, Cayetano 1916 births 1997 deaths 20th-century Spanish sculptors 20th-century Spanish male artists Spanish male sculptors