Christopher Columbus

Sculptor: Rafael Atché
Architect: Gaietà Buigas
Materials: Bronze (originally golden)
Inauguration: June 1, 1888

Columbus is the historical figure that has been most often represented in monumental sculpture. Thanks to the fact that the artists had a homogenous graphic information, all the representations of this historical character have few variants. In the case at hand, it is a bronze statue, larger than the natural size, representing the figure of the discoverer of America, full-length and standing, holding a sail chart rolled up with the left hand and with the outstretched arm pointing towards the horizon, position that remained immortalized as a Colombian gesture par excellence. Symbolically, the gesture indicates the path followed to the American continent discovered by Columbus in 1492.

The figure of the admiral, of realistic style, was sculpted by Rafael Atché, typical representative of the anecdotal sculpture of the nineteenth century. The alleged plausibility that the author tried to capture in the representation of the character can be seen in the same description of the figure, relatively faithful to its traditional iconography, with long hair, covered with a coat with fur collar and stockings, usual clothing and constant in numerous representations of the discoverer of America.

The situation of the statue, on top of the high iron column that presides over the monumental set, accentuates the declamatory attitude of the character.