Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II

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Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II by Augusto Benvenuti, 1880
Piazza del Duomo
Vicenza, May 2025

“The monument to Vittorio Emanuele II is located in Vicenza, in Piazza Duomo. It was inaugurated on 18 November 1880 (14th anniversary of the decoration of the flag of Vicenza, awarded the gold medal for military valour for the events of 1848, by the sovereign). The work is by the Venetian sculptor Augusto Benvenuti. At the inauguration ceremony, in addition to the city and provincial authorities, there were also Prince Amedeo, son of the late sovereign and the then Minister of Public Works, Alfredo Baccarini. The monument depicts Vittorio Emanuele II in military uniform in the act of placing his helmet with his right hand on a fragment of Roman architecture on which the motto SPQR is carved. On the pedestal of the monument rests (sitting) another statue depicting the City of Vicenza who with his right hand holds the coat of arms of the City and with the other supports the flag of the Municipality which was decorated for military valour by Vittorio Emanuele II himself.” (Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II, Wikipedia)

Monumento a la Infanta Maria Luisa

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Monumento a la Infanta Maria Luisa, 1972
(bronze copy of a work by Enrique Pérez Comendador, 1928)
Parque de María Luisa
Seville, September 2022

“The monument to the Infanta María Luisa is a bronze copy of the sculpture made in stone by Enrique Pérez Comendador in 1929, which is located in the María Luisa park in the city of Seville (Andalusia). It was installed by the Seville City Council in the park as a token of gratitude to Infanta María Luisa Fernanda de Borbón for donating some land from the San Telmo Palace to convert it into the current park. The first commission for the statue was made to the sculptor Antonio Susillo on March 23, 1893, who presented a project on December 17 of the same year, but on March 20, 1894 the Academy of Fine Arts of Santa Isabel de Hungría (Seville) decided not to approve the sculptor's project, and his unexpected death left him out of the project. It was not until 1929 that the work was completed, commissioned by Enrique Pérez Comendador, who made a stone statue representing the Infanta with a flower in her hand, which seems to symbolize her daughter María de las Mercedes. The statue was placed on Avenida Rodríguez Caso, within the park. In 1965, it moved its location a few meters within the same park and was placed next to the Lotus Pond. Later, the stone statue was stored in the Convent of Santa Clara and a bronze statue was placed in its place. Original statue in the gardens of the Orleans-Borbón Palace in Sanlúcar de Barrameda. In 1972 the stone statue was moved to the Plaza de los Cisnes in Sanlúcar de Barrameda (Cádiz), where her husband, the Duke of Montpensier Antonio de Orleans, also had a palace. In 2008 the stone statue was moved from the Plaza de los Cisnes to the gardens of the Orleans-Borbón Palace in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, which is now municipal.” (Monumento a la Infanta María Luisa, Wikipedia)

Arche scaligere

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Arche scaligere (Scaliger Tombs)
Via Santa Maria Antica
Verona, May 2025

“The Scaliger Tombs (Italian: Arche scaligere) is a group of five Gothic funerary monuments in Verona, Italy, celebrating the Scaliger family, who ruled in Verona from the 13th to the late 14th century. The tombs are located in a court outside the church of Santa Maria Antica, separated from the street by a wall with iron grilles. Built in Gothic style, they are a series of tombs, mostly freestanding open tabernacle-like structures rising high above the ground, with a sarcophagus surmounted by an elaborate baldachin, topped by a statue of the deceased, mounted and wearing armour. According to the French historian Georges Duby, they are one of the most outstanding examples of Gothic art.” (Scaliger Tombs, Wikipedia)

Al pueblo del 2 de mayo de 1808

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“Al pueblo del 2 de mayo de 1808” by Aniceto Marinas, 1891
Jardines del General Fanjul, Calle Ferraz
Madrid, September 2025

“‘A los héroes del dos de mayo’ or ‘Al pueblo del dos de mayo de 1808’ is an instance of public art in Madrid, Spain. A sculptural work by Aniceto Marinas, the monument is an homage to the role of the Madrilenian people during the 1808 Dos de mayo uprising. Originally sculpted in Rome by Aniceto Marinas in 1891, the sculptural group depicts a winged statue holding a banner that emerges on top of a soldier, a cannon, a small boy and a number of corpses, male and female alike.” (Al pueblo del dos de mayo de 1808, Wikipedia)

Monument to Eloy Gonzalo

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Monument to Eloy Gonzalo by Aniceto Marinas, 1902
Plaza de Cascorro
Madrid, September 2025

“The Monument to Eloy Gonzalo is an instance of public art in Madrid, Spain. It is a monument dedicated to Eloy Gonzalo, the so-called Hero of Cascorro. Erected on the plaza de Cascorro, it consists of a bronze statue of the aforementioned Cuban War hero authored by Aniceto Marinas, put on a stone plinth. It is a monument dedicated to Eloy Gonzalo [es] a Spanish soldier in the Cuban War independence who, in September 1896 — during a siege by a party of about 2,500 Cuban mambises equipped with 70 mm battalion guns on a small regiment of Spanish soldiers garrisoned in the small village of Cascorro — reportedly volunteered to his superiors in a nearly suicidal mission to infiltrate the enemy lines and fire the hut used as a warehouse for the weaponry of the enemy. Reportedly equipped with a 10-liter gasoline can, a Mauser rifle, a torch and a rope (to tie himself allowing for the retrieval of his corpse in case he fell in action, as he was certain of) he succeeded against all odds, helping to demoralize the enemy until the lift of the siege by General Adolfo Jiménez Castellanos, only to die of dysentery in Matanzas in June 1897.” (Monument to Eloy Gonzalo, Wikipedia)

Monument to George Washington

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Monument to George Washington, 1932
Piazzale Kennedy
Parco delle Cascine (Cascine Park)
Florence, January 2025

“The monument was built in 1932 at the behest of the Americans residing in Florence, on the occasion of the second centenary of the birth of the first President of the United States of America. The work is located in piazzale Kennedy, in the central area of the Cascine Park, the largest green area in the city. The restoration was funded by: Florence Lions Club; Lions Club Florence Impruneta San Casciano; Lions Club Florence Cosimo de ' Medici; Giotto Florence Lions Club; Barberino Montelibertas Lions Club; Lions Club Le Signe. George Washington was an American politician and military. He was commander of the army in the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783) and became the first President of the United States of America. It is considered one of the great founding fathers of the American nation. Between the 19th and 20th centuries Florence became one of the favorite places for American artists and writers.” (Monument to George Washington, Art@Site)

Fedele Lampertico

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Monument to Fedele Lampertico by Carlo Spazzi, 1924
Piazza Matteotti
Vicenza, May 2025

“Fedele Lampertico (Vicenza, 13 June 1833 – Vicenza, 6 April 1906) was an Italian economist, writer and politician. He has been defined as a ‘paternalistic agrarian, undisputed leader of the conservative oligarchy, discreet and omnipotent ruler of local public life’. He was born to Domenico and Angela Valle, of a noble family. He attended high school in his hometown and was taught by Abbot Giacomo Zanella , with whom he remained a deep friend. Numerous correspondences remain between Fedele Lampertico and Giacomo Zanella, which Lampertico himself donated to the Bertoliana Library in Vicenza. He studied law in Padua, where he graduated in 1855 with a thesis in statistics.” (Fedele Lampertico, Wikipedia)

Monument to Giuseppe Garibaldi

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Monument to Giuseppe Garibaldi by Ettore Ferrari, 1887
Piazza Castello
Vicenza, May 2025

“The monument to Garibaldi is a sculpture located in Piazza del Castello in Vicenza and is the work of the sculptor Ettore Ferrari. It was inaugurated on 21 August 1887 (27th anniversary of Garibaldi's entry into Reggio Calabria). The monument's inauguration took place in pouring rain. The day's program included: the inauguration of the monument at 10:00 a.m., a musical concert at the Teatro Olimpico at 1:00 p.m., a social banquet at 4:00 p.m., a torchlight procession in the evening (which was cancelled due to bad weather), and a gala performance of the opera-ballet ‘L'Africana’ at 9:00 p.m. at the Teatro Comunale. Sculptor Ettore Ferrari himself was present that day, praising Vicenza for its patriotism, similar to that of his native Rome. Among those present were Garibaldi's followers from Vicenza and the surrounding province.” (Monumento a Garibaldi, Wikipedia)

Caduti per la Libertà

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Monumento ai caduti per la Libertà by Mario Salazzari, 1947
Piazza Bra
Verona, May 2025

“The monument was inaugurated on April 25, 1947. The artist is Mario Salazzari (Lugagnano di Sona, 1904 - Verona, 1993), sculptor, poet, musician, and partisan fighter. A student of the Veronese sculptor Egidio Girelli at the Cignaroli Academy of Fine Arts, he was one of the most active and prolific artists in Verona. He created two of the equestrian groups on the Ponte della Vittoria bridge and created several war memorials, including one in the Borgo Roma neighborhood and one dedicated to the Cefalonia massacre in Verona. In early 1946, Salazzari sculpted the figure of a Partisan, a work particularly dear to the artist, to commemorate the first anniversary of April 5, the national holiday of Liberation. The statue depicts a soldier with a machine gun on his shoulders. The work has been compared to Michelangelo's David, an iconography used by fascist ideology, whose meanings are reversed here: the partisan personified as David cunningly defeats the Nazi-Fascist giant Goliath. Furthermore, compared to Michelangelo's work, the figure of the partisan, with its fluid modeling, appears slimmer and formally simplified.” (Statua dei Caduti per la Libertà, VisitVerona)

Plaza de la Merced

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Monumento a Torrijos
Plaza de la Merced
Málaga, March 2025

“Plaza de la Merced is a public square located in the barrio La Merced in central Málaga, Spain. The plaza has been a part of the city since the city of Málaga's Roman era, and has been operating as a town market place since at least the fifteenth century. It is one of the largest public squares in Málaga’s city center, and is also known for containing Pablo Picasso's childhood home.” (Plaza de la Merced, Wikipedia)

Carlo Maggiorelli

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Monument to Carlo Maggiorelli, 1966
Anconella water treatment plant
Via Villamagna
Florence, December 2024

“The Monument to Carlo Maggiorelli (Italian: Monumento a Carlo Maggiorelli) is a memorial dedicated to Carlo Maggiorelli, an aqueduct worker and the first victim of the devastating 1966 Florence flood (Alluvione di Firenze). It honors his heroic sacrifice during the disaster. Maggiorelli (1915–1966) was an operaio (worker) employed by the municipal aqueduct service in Florence. On the night of November 3–4, 1966, during his night shift at the Anconella water treatment plant (Impianto di Potabilizzazione dell'Anconella) on the banks of the Arno River, the river burst its banks, flooding the city with up to 6 meters (20 feet) of water and mud in some areas. Instead of fleeing, Maggiorelli stayed at his post to secure the facility and protect the water supply for Florence. He was tragically swept away by the torrent and drowned, becoming the flood's first confirmed casualty. Unveiled in 1996 at the initiative of the association Firenze Promuove, the monument is a simple yet poignant bronze plaque and bust sculpture depicting Maggiorelli in his work uniform, symbolizing labor and heroism. It was created to preserve his memory as a local hero. Situated at the main entrance to the Anconella Water Treatment Plant. Originally inside the adjacent Parco dell'Anconella, it was relocated and restored in 2016—marking the 50th anniversary of the flood—to improve visibility from the street. The site overlooks the Arno, tying directly to the events of his death.” (Monument to Carlo Maggiorelli, Grok)

Daoiz and Velarde

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Monument to Daoiz and Velarde by Aniceto Marinas, 1910
Plaza de la Reina Victoria Eugenia
Segovia, September 2025

“The Monument to Daoiz and Velarde (Spanish: Monumento a Daoiz y Velarde) is an instance of public art in Segovia, Spain. Designed by Aniceto Marinas, it is a memorial to Luis Daoiz y Torres and Pedro Velarde y Santillán, two Spanish artillery officers who fell fighting against the French army at the 1808 Dos de Mayo Uprising, in the context of the Peninsular War. It is located near the Alcázar of Segovia. The laying of the foundation stone was held on 6 May 1908, on the occasion of the festivities taking place in early May for the 100th anniversary of the Dos de Mayo uprising.” (Monument to Daoiz and Velarde, Wikipedia)

Monumento a Calvo Sotelo

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Monumento a Calvo Sotelo by Carlos Ferreira de la Torre, 1960
Paseo de la Castellana
Madrid, September 2025

“The Monument to Calvo Sotelo (Spanish: Monumento a Calvo Sotelo) is an instance of public art located in Madrid, Spain. Erected on the south of the Plaza de Castilla, it is dedicated to José Calvo Sotelo, who was assassinated shortly before the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. The monument was an initiative of the ‘National Junta’ for the homage to the Glorious Proto-Martyr of the Crusade Don José Calvo Sotelo, an entity reanimated in 1954 by the Francoist dictatorship in order to resume earlier Burgos government's projects dating back to 1938 intending to commemorate the aforementioned politician and delayed by the then ongoing state of war. The location of the monument was decided in 1958. Commissioned to Manuel Manzano-Monís (architect) and Carlos Ferreira de la Torre (sculptor), the monument fuses the aesthetics of Italian fascism with the Spanish vanguard of the time. Made of reinforced concrete, the single written inscription on the material reads ‘España a Calvo Sotelo’ (Spain to Calvo Sotelo). It was unveiled on 13 July 1960. It was slightly relocated in 1992 during the works of reform of the Plaza de Castilla and put on a raised platform in the south end of the plaza. Its frontal perspective generates an axis of symmetry with the Puerta de Europa twin towers.” (Monument to Calvo Sotelo, Wikipedia)

Tomba di Antenore

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Tomba di Antenore (Tomb of Antenor)
Piazza Antenore
Padua, May 2025

“The Tomb of Antenor, also called the Sepulchre of Antenore, is a 13th-century monument created to honor an unearthed ancient sarcophagus, claimed to be that of the Trojan warrior and counselor Antenor, the legendary founder of Padua; it is located in Piazza Antenore, in Padua, region of Veneto, Italy. In 1274, during the construction of an orphanage in Padua, an ancient marble sarcophagus was uncovered. A local scholar, Lovato dei Lovati, said to have found inscriptions on a bronze plaque attached to the inner wooden coffin, stating the burial contained the body of Antenor.” (Tomb of Antenor, Wikipedia)

Neri Pozza

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Monument to Neri Pozza by Nereo Quagliato, 2012
Contrà Pescaria
Vicenza, May 2025

“Neri Pozza (Vicenza, 5 August 1912 – Vicenza, 6 November 1988) was an Italian partisan, writer and publisher. He was also an artist, engraver and collector of contemporary art. He was born and lived in Vicenza, a city to which he dedicated all his activity. He attended the Pigafetta classical high school in Vicenza, but did not complete his studies; his father was a sculptor and Neri approached sculpture, which he soon abandoned for poetry. Active in the Vicenza Resistance, he wrote the book ‘La prigione’ from this experience in the 1960s. In 1941 he founded the publishing house Il Pellicano, under the banner of a vivifying cultural renewal; an intent made evident in the logo, which features a pelican feeding its dying children with its own blood. After the war period he committed himself to what would be the project of his life: Neri Pozza Editore, for which the first title was published in 1946: ‘Paludi’ by André Gide. In 1950 he published the anthology ‘In quel preciso momento’ by Dino Buzzati. In 1951 he published the first novel by Goffredo Parise (also from Vicenza), ‘Il ragazzo morto e le comete’. The growth path of the publishing house continued with collaborations with Vincenzo Cardarelli, Eugenio Montale, Carlo Emilio Gadda and Mario Luzi.” (Neri Pozza, Wikipedia)

Andrea Palladio

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Monument to Andrea Palladio by Vincenzo Gajassi, 1859
Piazza dei Signori
Vicenza, May 2025

Beethoven-Denkmal

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Beethoven-Denkmal (Beethoven Monument) by Georg Kolbe, 1948
Taunusanlage
Frankfurt, September 2024

“The Beethoven Memorial in Frankfurt am Main is a monument in the Taunusanlage, created between 1926 and 1948. It honors the composer Ludwig van Beethoven. The monument stands on a hilltop in Frankfurt's Anlagenring. It consists of three bronze figures: the middle of the three larger-than-life figures depicts Ludwig van Beethoven, although not in portrait form. The two female figures are geniuses from Roman mythology. The diabase base is adorned with the inscription ‘To the Genius of Beethoven’. The monument was designed by Georg Kolbe. In 1926, Kolbe received an offer from the city of Berlin to create a Beethoven monument for a competition. Due to time constraints, he declined the offer, but began a design nonetheless. The design was not completed until 1947, and the monument was cast in Berlin in May of the following year. It was inaugurated on June 16, 1951.” (Beethoven Monument, Wikipedia)

Heine-Denkmal

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Heine-Denkmal (Heine Monument) by Georg Kolbe, 1913
Friedberger Anlage
Frankfurt, September 2024

“The Heinrich Heine Memorial in the Wallanlagen park of Frankfurt am Main, built in 1913, is the first and only representative monument to the poet Heinrich Heine, who died in 1856 , in Germany. It was erected with the help of public funds and survived both the terror of the Nazi era and the Second World War largely unscathed. The bronze sculpture of a striding young man and a young woman seated at his feet, created by the sculptor Georg Kolbe, is an allegory of the youthfulness and lightness of Heine's poetry. The group of figures, a typical work of Art Nouveau, stands on a shell limestone base, to which a bronze relief, also designed by Kolbe, depicts the poet's profile and name.” (Heinrich-Heine-Denkmal, Wikipedia)

Leibniz-Denkmal

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Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz by Ernst Hähnel, 1883
Leibnizforum, Universitätstraße
Leipzig, September 2024

“The Leibniz Monument in the courtyard of the new campus of the University of Leipzig (Leibniz Forum) honors the mathematician, philosopher, physicist, politician, and diplomat Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646–1716), who was born in Leipzig on July 6, 1646, and studied at the university there. He is considered the polymath of his time, one of the most important philosophers of the 17th and 18th centuries, and an important pioneer of the Enlightenment . Leibniz stands as a larger-than-life bronze statue on a square, bronze pedestal. The base of the monument is made of granite. Although only associated with Leipzig as a young man, in contrast to Goethe's monument on the Naschmarkt, Leibniz is not depicted as a youth, but as a mature man in the costume of his time as a ‘Prince of Science’ who strove to unite theory and practice in all scientific fields. On his right, he leans on a globe as a symbol of power and holds an open book as a scholarly characteristic, which characterizes his historical scope of action.” (Leibniz Monument, Wikipedia)

Schillerdenkmal

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Schillerdenkmal (Schiller Monument) by Selmar Werner, 1914
Hauptstraße
Dresden, September 2024

“Dresden 's Schiller Monument stands southwest of Albertplatz, between the beginning of Hauptstraße and Königstraße in the Innere Neustadt district. It is a work by Selmar Werner, with architecture by Oswin Hempel. On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Friedrich Schiller's death, a committee was founded in 1905 to erect a Schiller monument in Dresden. While the city of Dresden agreed to provide the site — an open space south of Albertplatz — free of charge, collecting private donations for the estimated construction costs of 30,000 marks proved considerably more difficult. In 1908, the sum had not yet been raised, and an artistic competition was held, but the results could not be implemented. It wasn't until 1913, also as part of the sculptural and artistic reform efforts in Dresden, that Selmar Werner was recruited. Werner came from the school of Robert Diez , who in turn had already created numerous works of art in Dresden, such as the twin fountains ‘Stille Wasser’ and ‘Stürmische Wogen’ on Albertplatz, as well as the ‘Gänsethiebbrunnen’ (Goose Thief Fountain). Werner's concept—which was realized—envisioned Schiller with faithfully portrayed features as a purely spiritual, ideal poetic figure, dressed in Greek costume and surrounded by his most important works.” (Schillerdenkmal, Wikipedia)