The nude equestrian statue of Sant Jordi in Barcelona

In Barcelona's Sants-Montjuïc district, at Plaça de Sant Jordi, lies an equestrian statue of the patron saint of Catalonia. Known as Sant Jordi, this piece of public art was created by Josep Llimona and inaugurated in 1924, though the design was originally conceived in 1918. The statue was placed in the context of the urban transformation of the Montjuïc mountain for the 1929 Exhibition.

The work was executed by the Foneria Gabriel Bechini. Llimona chose the typology of an equestrian statue, a form that had previously yielded good results in his work for Ramon Berenguer III. In this piece, the saint is represented nude, which is an uncommon iconography for the famous warrior. The model for the figure was the doctor Francesc Duran Reynals, a friend of Llimona.

In the Montjuïc work, the rider sits on the horse without a saddle or stirrups, holding a staff in one hand while the other rests on the animal's back. The horse is also at rest, with all four feet on the ground, slightly leaning forward. The sculpture stands on a prismatic stone pedestal that elevates the entire ensemble, located in a square that was previously called El Polvorí.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons