Monument to Federico García Lorca (Madrid)

The idea for the monument traces back to 1984, via a petition by Miguel Narros (then director of the Teatro Español), who asked the Ayuntamiento for the erection of a statue dedicated to García Lorca, on the 50th anniversary of the first time the play Yerma was performed.[1]

A work by Julio López Hernández, its inception took place between 1984 and 1986.[2] It was subsequently stored for about a decade at the Cuartel del Conde-Duque, during the reform works of its intended location, the Plaza de Santa Ana.[2]

The full body bronze statue representing the poet is looking at the Teatro Español, while holding a lark about to take off between his hands.[3][2][4] Larks and nightingales are common motifs in his poems.[3]

The inscription reads madrid, a federico garcía lorca ("Madrid to Federico García Lorca").[5]

Still a symbol of the polarized past of Spain by the turn of the 21st century, according to David Crocker "the statue, at least, is still an emblem of the contested past: each day, the Left puts a red kerchief on the neck of the statue, and someone from the Right comes later to take it off".[6] In April 2011, during a vandal attack, the lark was removed from his hands.[7]

Citations

Bibliography

• Chamorro, Miguel; Villoslada, Javier; Fernández, Luis (2019). "Paseos por el Madrid musical. 1. Distrito de Centro" (PDF). Madrid Histórico (82): 37–42. ISSN 1885-5814.
• Curry, Richard K. (2012). "El espíritu de modernidad en Federico García Lorca: dramatismo lírico y lirismo dramático". Cartaphilus. Murcia: Universidad de Murcia. 10: 35–44. ISSN 1887-5238.