The ''verraco'' of the bridge () in

Salamanca Salamanca () is a Municipality of Spain, municipality and city in Spain, capital of the Province of Salamanca, province of the same name, located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is located in the Campo Charro comarca, in the ...

, Spain, is an

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

stone statue depicting a bull, placed at the entrance of the

Roman bridge The ancient Romans were the first civilization to build large, permanent bridges. Early Roman bridges used techniques introduced by Etruscan immigrants, but the Romans improved those skills, developing and enhancing methods such as arches and k ...

. ''

Verraco The ''verracos'' (; ; literally 'boar'), in the Iberian Peninsula, are the Vettones's granite megalithic monuments, sculptures of animals as found in the west of the Iberian Peninsula, Iberian ''Meseta Central, meseta'' – the high central plai ...

'' is a general term that refers to the stone statues of animals made by the

Vettones The Vettones (Greek language, Greek: ''Ouettones'') were an Prehistoric Iberia#Iron Age, Iron Age pre-Roman people of the Iberian Peninsula. Origins Lujan (2007) concludes that some of the names of the Vettones show clearly Hispano-Celtic lan ...

, one of the

pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula This is a list of the pre- Roman people of the Iberian Peninsula (the Roman Hispania, i.e., modern Portugal, Spain and Andorra). Some closely fit the concept of a people, ethnic group or tribe. Others are confederations or even unions of tribe ...

. In Spanish the word ''verraco'' means "breeding pig", but other animals such as bulls and bears were also represented. The ''verraco'' of the bridge is also known as the "bull of Salamanca", or the "bull of the bridge". It is the oldest statue in the city and appears in its coat of arms. Its dimensions are long, meters tall, and wide. The head is missing and the body broken in half, but was rebuilt.

History

The ''verracos'' were erected by the Vettones tribes in the late Iron Age, in several locations across the west of the '' meseta'' - the high central plain of the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...

. In the city of Salamanca this bull sculpture has been next to the Roman bridge since the end of the

12th century The 12th century is the period from 1101 to 1200 in accordance with the Julian calendar. In the history of European culture, this period is considered part of the High Middle Ages and overlaps with what is often called the Golden Age' of the ...

, as mentioned in documents and literature. In 1834 the provincial governor José María Cambronero ordered the ''verraco'' to be thrown into the

Tormes The Tormes is a Spanish river that starts in Prado Tormejón, in the mountain range of Gredos, Navarredonda de Gredos, province of Ávila. It crosses the provinces of Avila and Salamanca, ending at the Duero River, at a place known locally as A ...

River, mistakenly believing that it had been placed on the bridge by king

Charles I of Spain Charles V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain (as Charles I) from 1516 to 1556, and Lord of the Netherlands as titular Duke of Burgundy (as Charles II) fr ...

, as a mark related to the events of the

Revolt of the Comuneros The Revolt of the Comuneros (, "War of the Communities of Castile") was an uprising by citizens of Crown of Castile, Castile against the rule of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, Charles I and his administration between 1520 and 1521. At its hei ...

, in which Salamanca participated. This caused the statue to break in three pieces. In 1867 the statue was rescued to be placed in the Convento de San Esteban, and moved to various museums afterwards, until it was returned to the Roman bridge in 1954, the year of the fourth century anniversary of the publication of the ''

Lazarillo de Tormes ''The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes and of His Fortunes and Adversities'' ( ) is a Spanish novella, published anonymously because of its anticlerical content. It was published simultaneously in three cities in 1554: Alcalá de Henares, Burgos a ...

''. It initially was located in the middle of the bridge, but has been at the entrance since 1993. The statue has suffered minor vandalism over the years, for example in 2016 and 2019.

Interpretations

The Vettones left behind similar figures across the territory they occupied, both in Spain and Portugal. These

zoomorphic The word ''zoomorphism'' derives from and . In the context of art, zoomorphism could describe art that imagines humans as non-human animals. It can also be defined as art that portrays one species of animal like another species of animal or art ...

statues represent breeding pigs, but also other animals such as bulls, bears, and wild boars. They are recognizable artistic expressions of their culture, but the meaning is unclear and several theories have tried to explain their significance. For example, it has been said that the ''verracos'' served as

boundary markers A boundary marker, border marker, boundary stone, or border stone is a robust physical marker that identifies the start of a land boundary or the change in a boundary, especially a change in direction of a boundary. There are several other t ...

for borders and lands dedicated to cattle grazing, that they are related to

Heracles Heracles ( ; ), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a Divinity, divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of ZeusApollodorus1.9.16/ref> and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptive descent through ...

, or had a mystic or religious role in the worship of nature deities, fertility, or the dead. The symbol of the bull has been identified with

Osiris Osiris (, from Egyptian ''wikt:wsjr, wsjr'') was the ancient Egyptian deities, god of fertility, agriculture, the Ancient Egyptian religion#Afterlife, afterlife, the dead, resurrection, life, and vegetation in ancient Egyptian religion. He was ...

, or with the strength of a river, with Juan Horozco y Covarrubias commenting in the sixteenth century that the noise of the river sounds like the bellowing of a bull, and for this reason the Romans placed it next to the river. Research done at the

Universidad Autónoma de Madrid The Autonomous University of Madrid (; UAM), commonly known as la Autónoma, is a Spanish public university located in Madrid, Spain. The university was founded in 1968 by royal decree. UAM is widely respected as one of the most prestigious univ ...

distinguishes among three types of ''verracos'', each with a different likely function. The study concludes that the larger figures of bulls and without inscriptions, like the bull of the bridge in Salamanca, would have been carved for protection of cattle and natural resources.

Literary references

The ''verraco'' of the bridge was mentioned in the 1554

picaresque novel The picaresque novel ( Spanish: ''picaresca'', from ''pícaro'', for ' rogue' or 'rascal') is a genre of prose fiction. It depicts the adventures of a roguish but appealing hero, usually of low social class, who lives by his wits in a corrup ...

'':

We left Salamanca and we came to a bridge; and at the edge of this bridge there's a stone statue of an animal that looks something like a bull. The blind man told me to go up next to the animal, and when I was there he said, "Lazaro, put your ear up next to this bull and you'll hear a great sound inside of it. I put my ear next to it very simply, thinking he was telling the truth. And when he felt my head near the statue, he doubled up his fist and knocked my head into that devil of a bull so hard that I felt the pain from its horns for three days. And he said to me, "You fool, now learn that a blind man's servant has to be one step ahead of the devil." And he laughed out loud at his joke.

It also appears in ''El mejor maestro, el tiempo'', by

Lope de Vega Félix Lope de Vega y Carpio (; 25 November 156227 August 1635) was a Spanish playwright, poet, and novelist who was a key figure in the Spanish Golden Age (1492–1659) of Spanish Baroque literature, Baroque literature. In the literature of ...

, where is mentioned along with the

bulls of Guisando The Bulls of Guisando () are a set of ancient sculptures located on the hill of Guisando in the municipality of El Tiemblo, Ávila, Spain. The four sculptures, made of granite, represent quadrupeds identified as bulls or pigs. The balance of opin ...

References

{{Authority control Archaeology in Europe Megalithic monuments Cattle in art Buildings and structures in Salamanca Outdoor sculptures in Castile and León Stone sculptures in Spain Stone verracos