“If so desired, no need to go to hell, come to the “Retiro” Park to visit the Angel which due to disobedience and envy, became bronze statue to stay and live there, the best site to be monitored from the heaven. “- Blog” Seeing Madrid “.
The statue of the Fallen Angel del Parque del Buen Retiro in Madrid is without doubt, a very beautiful no matter from which point the observe. We found the statue of Lucifer precipitated from heaven and imprisoned by snakes that tied his arms and legs, its figure in contortion, resting on a wooden trunk is observed. With a body made to perfection and outstretched wings, he takes his left arm to his head, while snakes around his right arm and legs.
It is the most beautiful angel, who for defying and disobeying God fell from heaven to earth. With a gesture of dismay and horror, looking skyward became Satan, spiteful, hateful and arrogance for having been beaten and thrown from Paradise to the abyss of evil.
It was a statue that caused a stir in the years of 1930 – 1940 when satanic sects gathered around him. At one point the withdrawal of the statue of Retiro was contemplated. Among the stories that surrounded the statue by those with evil beliefs, it was regarded as a gateway to Hell. A fact that supports this thinking is related to the location of the figure: at 666 meters above sea level. Coincidence? Possibly.
Madrid sculptor Ricardo Bellver work was originally built in plaster to compete in the National Exhibition of Fine Arts in 1877, where it won the first prize. The State acquired the work for 4,500 pesetas and presented the same at the Universal Exhibition in Paris four years after its creation. For this exhibition it had to be forged into a bronze statue. After the exhibition, the statue returned to be exhibited in the National Museum. In 1879, the museum director, Benito Soriano Murillo, proposed that the statue should be placed outdoors where everyone could contemplate it. It is then donated to City Hall to be placed in the “Jardines del Buen Retiro”. Undoubtedly, the Fallen Angel, fell in several places before finally landing and afixed at the Parque del Retiro where we can all enjoy it.
Jareño Francisco, an architect was commissioned to design the pedestal where the sculpture would be mounted. The base consists of an octagonal pedestal, with faces of devils on each side, holding fish, lizards and snakes, three spouts on each side and housed in a power pylon, built all in granite, stone and bronze.
It is a great work that no one should miss out on when visiting the Parque del Buen Retiro.