The Monument to Miguel de Cervantes is an instance of public art located 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. Erected on the centre of the , it is dedicated to

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 ...

, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the

Spanish language Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a world language, global language with more than 500 millio ...

. The monument incorporates a stone monolith with several statues (including Cervantes') and a detached bronze sculptural group representing

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 ...

and

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'', ...

History and description

In 1915, a year before the 300th anniversary of the writer's death, a public contest was announced in order to award the project. The announcement was met with concern among certain reviewers. The winning project was awarded to a dark horse proposal by Rafael Martínez Zapatero and

Lorenzo Coullaut Valera Lorenzo Coullaut Valera (1876 – 1932) was a Spanish sculptor. Born in Marchena, he grew up in Nantes where his family had moved. He studied at the Livet Lyceum and returned to Spain in 1893. At Seville, he studied at the studios of and A ...

that had been derided as overly literary, detail-oriented and anecdotal. The jury's decision was criticised via an open letter signed by at least 109 public figures, including, to name a few,

Ramón del Valle Inclán Ramón or Ramon may refer to: People Given name *Ramon (footballer, born 1998), Brazilian footballer *Ramón (footballer, born 1990), Brazilian footballer *Ramón (singer), Spanish singer who represented Spain in the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest * ...

Alejandro Ferrant Alejandro Ferrant y Fischermans (9 September 1843 – 20 January 1917) was a Spanish painter. Life He was born in Madrid, and studied with his uncle, Luis Ferrant Llausàs, and at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando. He also rec ...

Emilio Carrere Emilio Carrere (Madrid, 18 December 1881 – Madrid, 30 April 1947) was a Spanish writer. He is best known for his 1920 gothic historical novel '' La torre de los siete jorobados'' (Eng: ''The Tower of the Seven Hunchbacks''). In 1944, this was th ...

Daniel Zuloaga Daniel Zuloaga y Boneta (1852 – December 27, 1921) was a Spanish people, Spanish ceramic art, ceramist and painter. He is considered to be one of the innovators of art pottery in Spain. He worked primarily from his workshops in Madrid and Segov ...

Tomás Borrás Tomás Borrás y Bermejo (10 February 1891, Madrid - 26 August 1976, Madrid) was a Spanish journalist, novelist and playwright. Life and career He attended the Instituto San Isidro, leading to a degree in law, but he practiced for only a short ...

and

Ramón Gómez de la Serna Ramón Gómez de la Serna y Puig (3 July 1888 in Madrid – 13 January 1963 in Buenos Aires) was a Spanish writer, dramatist and avant-garde agitator. He strongly influenced surrealist film maker Luis Buñuel. Ramón Gómez de la Serna was esp ...

. It was funded through a popular subscription across all the Spanish-speaking nations. The building works suffered delays and the project was substantially changed from the original draft. By the time works started,

Pedro Muguruza Pedro Muguruza Otaño (1893–1952) was a Spanish architect and Falangist politician. Biography Born in Madrid on 25 May 1893, his family came from Elgoibar (Gipuzkoa). He earned an architecture degree from the School of Architecture of Madr ...

joined as architect assistant. Standing 34 metre high, the central stone monolith was finished in 1929, yet it was still missing several sculptural elements, only featuring the sculptures representing Cervantes, the allegories of Literature, Military Value and Mysticism and the sculptural group comprised by the Earth Globe surrounded by five women representing the five continents topping the monument, aside from the detached bronze statues of

and

. Still unfinished, it was inaugurated on 13 October 1929. Later in time, several statues representing characters from Cervantes' work sculpted by Lorenzo Coullaut's son—

Federico Coullaut-Valera Mendigutia Federico Coullaut-Valera Mendigutia (1912–1989) was a Spanish sculptor. The son of sculptor Lorenzo Coullaut-Valera, he was born in Madrid. He continued the work begun by his father in the Plaza de España. Coullaut-Valera Mendigutia finishe ...

—such as Dulcinea del Toboso and Aldonza Lorenzo (in 1957) and

Rinconete y Cortadillo "Rinconete y Cortadillo" (or "Novela de Rinconete y Cortadillo") is one of the twelve short stories included in ''Novelas Ejemplares'', by Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes. The story is set in Seville in 1569, which at the time was a rich city ...

and

La gitanilla ''La gitanilla'' ("The Little Gypsy Girl") is the first novella contained in Miguel de Cervantes' collection of short stories, the ''Novelas ejemplares'' (''The Exemplary Novels).'' ''La gitanilla'' is the story of a 15 year old gypsy girl name ...

(in 1960) were added to the ensemble. The monument was declared ''Bien de Interés Patrimonial'' ("Good of Patrimonial Interest") by the Community of Madrid in 2018.:

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * * {{authority control Monuments and memorials in Madrid Outdoor sculptures in Madrid Sculptures of men in Spain Sculptures of women in Spain Statues of Miguel de Cervantes Equestrian statues in Madrid Buildings and structures in Argüelles neighborhood, Madrid Works based on Don Quixote Works based on La gitanilla