Category Archives: Fountains and Monuments

ALLEGORIES OF IBERIA, THE GUADALQUIVIR RIVER AND THE MAGDALENA RIVER

In a small meadow inside the Garden of Earthly Delights we find these three allegorical sculptures made around 1928. They were originally made as part of a large monumental fountain that was located in what was called Plaza de los Conquistadores, in the southern sector of the city. Ibero-American Exhibition of 1929. This space was redeveloped after the Exhibition, the square and the fountain disappearing, and it is currently occupied by part of the Reina Mercedes university campus.

The allegory of Iberia occupied the central space of the fountain. It was made by the Valencian Francisco Marco Díaz-Pintado, who conceived Iberia as a female figure carved in stone about 3.5 m high. With an attitude between hieratic and solemn, she appears dressed in a wide tunic and a headdress and some jewels of clear Iberian inspiration. She seems to be directly inspired by Iberian sculptures, especially the Ladies of Elche and Baza. With her left arm she holds a large garland of flowers and fruit, symbolizing the agrarian wealth of the Peninsula.

On both sides of Iberia were the allegories of the Guadalquivir and Magdalena rivers, which today are also found in this area of the Garden of Earthly Delights. Both rivers are represented as two men, who appear naked and reclining, each showing some element that allows them to be identified.

The Allegory of the Guadalquivir River was made by Agustín Sánchez Cid and next to him we see a bull's head and a cornucopia. For its part, the Allegory of the Magdalena River is the work of José Lafita Díaz. She rests on a small alligator, a very abundant animal in this Colombian river, and we can also see various American fruits, such as pineapples.

HAITI ROUNDABOUT

This gazebo has kept its original appearance since it was placed in the Garden of Earthly Delights around 1864. It was made up of a series of 18th-century sculptures and pedestals from the Archiepiscopal Palace of Umbrete. It has an elliptical shape and delimiting its contour there was a continuous marble bench with a metal back. The pedestals are in the Rococo style and were made by the eighteenth-century sculptor of Portuguese origin, Cayetano de Acosta. The busts are replicas of the Italian originals that were here for more than a century and that were returned to Umbrete in 2006. They represent a series of Roman characters depicted in a beautiful baroque style. In the center of the gazebo there is a marble fountain with an octagonal vase. The fountain is a replica of the original from the 18th century that is now in the Fuente del Estanque, in this same garden.

SCULPTURE TO THE GOD PAN

Pan was the Greek god of shepherds and flocks, especially revered in the Arcadian region. He was identified with Faun in Roman mythology. He was depicted mixing human and animal features, with legs, tail, and ram's horns. Here we see him resting on a trunk, with striking hooves for feet, in an Italian sculpture from the 18th century from the Archbishop's Palace in Umbrete. It is made of marble and measures approximately 1.60 m. It sits on a pedestal also made in the 18th century by Cayetano de Acosta, about 2 m high and in a Rococo style.

SCULPTURES OF AVENIDA DEL LÍBANO

The path inside Jardín de las Delicias that leads to Plaza de América is known as Avenida del Líbano. It is framed by a series of rococo pedestals made in the 18th century by Cayetano de Acosta for the Archbishop's palace in Umbrete. On them rise a series of sculptures of Roman characters, replicas of the Italian originals from the 18th century that were in the Umbrete Palace itself. The replicas were made in 2006 when the originals were returned to Umbrete for better conservation.

MONUMENT TO THE PAINTER JOAQUIN SOROLLA

Monument erected in 1929 to the Valencian impressionist painter Joaquín Sorolla. The bust of the painter was made by the also Valencian José Capuz Mamano and on its base you can read 'SOROLLA MCMXIX' (1929). The pedestal comes from the Archiepiscopal Palace of Umbrete and was made in the Rococo style by Cayetano de Acosta in the 18th century. When used as the base of the monument to Sorolla, it was inscribed 'LA SECCIÓN DE BELLAS ARTES DEL ATENEO'.

HIGH HALL OR SALÓN ALTO

This set is made up of a rectangular base with a slatted floor that is raised by means of a three-step tier. In the corners are a series of four Rococo pedestals made by Cayetano de Acosta in the 18th century. On them we see four vases made of artificial stone. They are replicas of those made for the Jardines de Cristina, in front of the Palacio de San Telmo. They were arranged here during the remodeling of the garden undertaken in 2007. Originally, a series of sculptures representing the Greek gods Apollo, Zeus, Ares and Hera were located on the pedestals, all of which have now disappeared.

GRENADE OF THE COLOMBIAN PAVILION

This small monument was shaped as we can see it today in the remodeling of the Garden of Earthly Delights undertaken in 2007. It consists of a marble pedestal made in the 18th century in the Rococo style by Cayetano de Acosta. A grenade was placed on it, coming from the nearby Colombian Pavilion, built for the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929.

FOUNTAIN OF NEPTUNE CHILD

Baroque sculpture from the 18th century, made in Italy and from the Archiepiscopal Palace of Umbrete. It is a child figure of 1.70 m. approximately, holding a sea shell in an attitude of touching it. It is not clear if it is a representation of Neptune, the Roman god of the seas, or of his son Triton, who was believed to be capable of calming or fanning a storm by touching the shell. The marble vase of the fountain is 2.60 m in diameter and, like the mosaic that surrounds it, has an octagonal shape.

Monumento a Urania en el Jardín de las Delicias de Sevilla

MONUMENT TO URANIA

Urania was the Greek muse of astronomy and astrology, generally considered the daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne. Here she appears in an Italian baroque sculpture from the 18th century, from the Archiepiscopal Palace of Umbrete. We see the muse bare-chested, holding a world sphere in her left hand and some documents, probably astronomical charts, in her right, in an arrangement full of elegance and beauty.

Monumento a Venus en el Jardín de las Delicias de Sevilla

MONUMENT TO VENUS

It is a set of sculptures that represents Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty, accompanied by her son Cupid, the Eros of the Greeks, also considered the god of loving desire. They were made in Italy in the 18th century in the Baroque style and come from the Archiepiscopal Palace of Umbrete, from where they reached their current location in 1864. The pedestal also dates from the 18th century and was sculpted by Cayetano de Acosta in the Rococo style. The set measures about 3.5 meters.