Estatua a Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

The bronze statue of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra stands in the Plaza de las Cortes in Madrid, Spain, in front of the Congress of Deputies. Sculpted by Antonio Solá, the work was cast in Rome and arrived in Madrid in 1835. It depicts the writer with a slightly bent right leg, holding a roll of papers in his right hand and leaning his left arm on the knob of his sword. He is dressed in Spanish breeches, a buttoned-up jacket, a ruff, and a short cape.

The monument was originally intended for the Plaza del Duque de Nájera but was moved to the Plaza de las Cortes by July 1835. The pedestal, designed by Isidro González Velázquez, is made of limestone and granite. Its front and back sides feature bronze plaques with inscriptions in Latin and Spanish. The lateral sides feature two bronze reliefs by José Piquer Duart showing scenes from Don Quixote de la Mancha, including the adventure of the lions and Don Quixote with Sancho Panza and the goddess of madness.

In 2009, during relocation works at the site, a time capsule was discovered. The cache contained four tomes of Don Quixote, the 1834 Royal Statute, two newspapers, two government gazettes, a manuscript, and a book titled Guía del Forastero. Between 1981 and 1986, four replicas of the bronze statue were gifted to New York, Moscow, Beijing, and La Paz.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons