Designer José Grases Riera Length 86 metres (282 ft) Height 30 metres (98 ft) | Material Marble and bronze Width 58 metres (190 ft) | |
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Location Buen Retiro Park, Madrid, Spain Artists José Grases Riera, Mariano Benlliure, Miguel Blay Address Parque del Retiro, Plaza de la Independencia, 28001 Madrid, Spain Hours Open today · Open 24 hoursSaturdayOpen 24 hoursSunday(Father's Day)Open 24 hoursHours might differMondayOpen 24 hoursTuesdayOpen 24 hoursWednesdayOpen 24 hoursThursdayOpen 24 hoursFridayOpen 24 hours Similar Palacio de Cristal, Buen Retiro Park, Estanque grande del Retiro, Palacio de Velázquez, Fuente del Ángel Caído | ||
The Monument to King Alfonso XII (Spanish: Monumento a Alfonso XII) is located in Buen Retiro Park (El Retiro), Madrid, Spain. The monument is situated on the east edge of an artificial lake near the center of the park.
In 1902, a national contest was held to design a monument for King Alfonso XII at the initiative of the Queen Mother Maria Christina of Austria. The winner was the architect José Grases Riera, whose design consisted of a grand colonnade alongside a pond in El Retiro, with several sculptures surrounding an equestrian statue of the king, with everything constructed in bronze and marble. Upon Grases Riera's death, Teodoro Anasagasti took control of the project without modifying the original design. More than twenty sculptors worked on the project. The monument, financed by a popular collection, was inaugurated on June 6, 1922. It was the first of many commemorative statues (by artists such as Mariano Benlliure, Josep Clarà, and Mateo Inurria) that were added to parks in Spain over the last century.
The monument is 30 meters high, 86 meters long, and 58 meters wide. At its center is the equestrian statue of King Alfonso XII, cast in Bronze, which was created by Benlliure in 1904. In the central base of the monument are the statues "La Paz" ("Peace") by Miquel Blay, "La Libertad" ("Freedom") by Aniceto Marinas and "El Progreso" ("Progress") by Miguel Ángel Trilles. In the pedestal, there are three bronze reliefs. Stairs descend from the central monument toward the lake, with four stone lions carved by Agapit Vallmitjana i Abarca and Pedro Estany. Under the pedestals, in bronze, are four mermaids sculpted by Antonio Parera Saurina, Rafael Atché, Antonio Coll y Pi, and Antoni Alsina. There are also two lions in each of the lateral access paths to the semicircle; these were carved by Francisco Javier Escudero Lozano, Antonio Bofill, Eusebi Arnau, and Campmany. At each side of the central access way to the colonnade are "El Ejército" ("The Army") by José Montserrat and "La Marina" ("The Navy") by Mateo Inurrria. In the inside of the monument, facing the lake, are the bronze sculptures "Las Ciencias" ("Sciences") by Manel Fuxà, "La Agricultura" ("Agriculture") by José Alcoverro, "Las Artes" ("The Arts") by Joaquín Bilbao, and "La Industria" ("Industry") by Josep Clarà. The ornamentation of the friezes and the central base was done by Pedro Estany.