The Monument to Count Ansúrez is an instance of public art in

Valladolid Valladolid () is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and de facto capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the province o ...

, Spain. Located at the Plaza Mayor, it consists of a bronze statue of Count Pedro Ansúrez, founder of the town of Valladolid in the 11th century, topping off a stone pedestal with additional sculptural elements.

History and description

Predated by earlier failed attempts in the 19th century to erect a monument to the founder of the city, the project of the statue was entrusted in the early 20th century to

Aurelio Carretero Aurelio Rodríguez Vicente Carretero (1863–1917), best known simply as Aurelio Carretero, was a Spanish sculptor. Born in 1863 in Medina de Rioseco (province of Valladolid), he studied at the in Valladolid and the Real Academia de Bellas Artes ...

, who, having started works in January 1901, completed the cast in April 1901, using

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 ...

donated by himself. Standing about 2.60 m high, the statue of the Count raises the banner of Castile with the right hand, while the left hand grabs the scrolls entitling him as Lord of Valladolid, while also leaning on the handle of a broadsword. The stone pedestal was designed by municipal architect . The bronze elements displayed on the sides of the pedestal (also a work by Carretero) include an allegory of history, a cartouche reading ("the city of Valladolid erects this monument to the memory of its protector and magnanimous benefactor Count D. Pedro Ansúrez. 12-13th centuries"), the arms of the city and two reliefs depicting episodes of the life of Ansúrez. It was unveiled on 31 December 1903. The monument was temporarily stored in the 1970s and the 1990s during reform works in the plaza.

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * {{authority control Buildings and structures in Valladolid Outdoor sculptures in Castile and León Bronze sculptures in Spain Sculptures of men in Spain Monuments and memorials in Castile and León