is a

monumental sculpture The term monumental sculpture is often used in art history and criticism, but not always consistently. It combines two concepts, one of function, and one of size, and may include an element of a third more subjective concept. It is often used fo ...

by Jean-Baptiste Hugues, that was a central part of the Argentine Pavilion at the Universal Exhibition of Paris in 1889.

History

The Argentine Pavilion

At the Paris Universal Exhibition held in 1889, 35 countries built enormous pavilions that were used by each nation to show its progress and cultural level. Each pavilion tried to represent the wealth of the participant nation. Argentina was one of the invited countries, which gave an opportunity for its political leadership to show the economic strength of a nation that had experienced major modernisation and transformation in the preceding twenty years. The Argentine Pavilion was in the

Champ de Mars Champ, CHAMP or The Champ may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Champ (cartoon character), an animated dog introduced in 1960 * The Champ, played on radio and created by Jake Edwards (radio personality), Jake Edwards * Champ ...

; a privileged place because of its nearness to the

Eiffel Tower The Eiffel Tower ( ; ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower from 1887 to 1889. Locally nicknamed "''La dame de fe ...

, which was the entrance to the exhibition. The Argentine Pavilion was designed in a European style, as compared to the Mexican and the Brazilian pavilions that emphasized their Latin American heritage. To build the Argentine Pavilion, the national government delegated the task of organizing a contest to an ad hoc committee chaired by the writer Eugenio Cambaceres. A demountable construction of iron was specified so as to be able to move the pavilion to Buenos Aires after the exhibition ended. The work of construction was awarded to the renowned French architect

Albert Ballu Albert Ballu (1 June 1849 - 3 November 1939) was a French architect. He designed many buildings in French Algeria, including the Cathédrale du Sacré-Cœur d'Oran. Education and early career Albert Ballu was the son of an architect, Théodore ...

, who came second in the contest.

The sculpture and its
maquette A ''maquette'' is a scale model or rough draft of an unfinished sculpture or work of architecture. The term is a loanword from French. An equivalent term is ''bozzetto'', a diminutive of the Italian word for a sketch. Sculpture A maquette ...

Hugues sculpted an original work in bronze for the pavilion. The National Museum of Fine Arts conserves the original plaster model of the sculpture, measuring 84 cm x 122.3 cm x 33 cm. It was given to the museum in 1946 by Ignacio Pirovano, to commemorate his mother María Rosa Lezica Alvear of Pirovano. Dr. Pirovano inherited the sculpture from his grandfather, Ricardo de Lezica y Thompson, who was a member of the Argentine commission of the Paris exhibition.

The relocation of the sculptures

After the Universal Exhibition, the Argentine delegation in Paris tried to sell the pavilion because of the precarious state of the Argentine economy after the crisis of 1890. The pavilion was made of iron, and could be easily disassembled. When there were no buyers, it was decided to bring it to Buenos Aires. Some parts were lost in a storm during the transatlantic crossing, but it arrived in Buenos Aires in acceptable condition. A bidding contest was held to see who wanted to rebuild it and exploit the concession, which was won by an Englishman who used the pavilion for various types of exhibitions. In 1910, at the centenary of the Revolution of May, the pavilion was recovered by the national government in order to place it in '' Plaza San Martín'' (San Martín square) in front of the National Museum of Fine Arts. The Pavilion was dismantled between the 1932 and 1934, and eventually sold as scrap. Leyenda monumento

The bronze sculptural groups that decorated the four corners of the pavilion were installed by the Buenos Aires city authorities in diverse points of the city, whilst the main sculpture was placed at its current location next to the building of the Escuela Técnica Raggio.

The fate of the pavilion

In 1997, in the neighbourhood of

Mataderos Mataderos (Spanish for "slaughterhouses") is a ''barrio'' (neighbourhood) in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is one of the three ''barrios'' that make up the Comuna 9, alongside Liniers and Parque Avellaneda. Located in the south-west end of the cit ...

, some remains of the Pavilion that had become part of the were discovered. Recent investigations carried out by a group of researchers of the

University of Buenos Aires The University of Buenos Aires (, UBA) is a public university, public research university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is the second-oldest university in the country, and the largest university of the country by enrollment. Established in 1821 ...

Faculty of Architecture, Design and Urbanism, and another group of the , found that the former owner (Isidoro Adrets, a soldier and a blacksmith), had bought the remains of the Argentine Pavilion in 1945. The elements of the main nave of the pavilion had not been destroyed, but were buried in a sector of the ''

Parque Tres de Febrero Parque Tres de Febrero, popularly known as Bosques de Palermo (Palermo Woods), is an urban park of approximately 400 hectares (about 989 acres) located in the neighborhood of Palermo in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Located between Libertador and F ...

'' in the neighbourhood of

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

. Despite this, there have been no efforts to locate and display them.

Description

The sculpture is a feminine figure that personifies the Argentine Republic, with a

Phrygian cap The Phrygian cap ( ), also known as Thracian cap and liberty cap, is a soft Pointed hat, conical Hat, cap with the apex bent over, associated in Classical antiquity, antiquity with several peoples in Eastern Europe, Anatolia, and Asia. The Phry ...

(a traditional symbol of liberty) and garments waving in the wind. At her back is a bull that symbolises the growing

animal husbandry Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, animal fiber, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, management, production, nutrition, selective breeding, and the raising ...

in Argentina. At its feet are two human figures: one the right that is harvesting grain (representing the agriculture that is main source of the wealth of the country) and one on the left; a man seated on an anvil between gears (that symbolize industry) holding a locomotive, personifying the progress of a modern country.

Notes

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Republica Argentina, LA Outdoor sculptures in Argentina Sculptures of women in Argentina