The MOST PHOTOGRAPHED sculpture of Avilés - Avilés, Asturias, España
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The most photographed sculpture of Avilés, "La Monstrua": almost no one knows its history or the origin of its name
Waymark Code: WM157HW
Location: Principado de Asturias, Spain
Date Posted: 10/31/2021
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Beauty is not everything and "La Monstrua" by Avilés is a clear example of this. The bronze statue of Eugenia Martínez Vallejo, better known by the nickname "La Monstrua", has become the Avilesino monument most photographed by tourists, who cannot avoid stopping to contemplate it as it passes through Carreño Miranda street. where is it located. In fact, most visitors take a photo of it because of how striking it is.
Despite her ignorance, the life of "La Monstrua" is curious to say the least. Eugenia Martínez Vallejo was born in Bárcena (Cantabria) in the middle of mass. This unusual event was considered an omen that she would be lucky. However, his life was not. Born in the second half of the seventeenth century, before the arrival of the Enlightenment and the development of science, she was considered a monster due to her malformations. According to chronicles of that time, with just one year the girl weighed 25 kilos and when she was six she reached 70. Her parents took her before the court of Carlos II, "the Bewitched", since at that time people with malformations were they turned into palace buffoons. Its history was collected in several "event reports" of the time and was baptized as "
Favila with her children, in & quot; La Monstrua & quot ;.
Favila with his children, in "La Monstrua". MARA VILLAMUZA
During his stay in the palace, the king commissioned Juan Carreño de Miranda, court painter, to portray the girl. The artist made two canvases, one of Eugenia dressed in the purest style of Velázquez's "Las Meninas" and the other of the naked girl, reminiscent of Botero's fat women. It was the first of the two paintings that the Asturian sculptor Amado González Hevia "Favila" took as a reference to sculpt "La Monstrua".
The monument was commissioned by the Ayala company in 1997 to donate to the Avilés City Council. They asked Favila to choose a theme to honor Carreño Miranda and place it on the street that bears his name. "It seemed to me a good way to unite Avilés and Madrid, where Carreño painted it," Favila explained in his day. "I sculpted the one that was dressed because 'Las Meninas' are a very popular icon and are also related to Madrid through El Prado," he said. Be that as it may, with or without a mouse, "La Monstrua" continues to be the object of all eyes also this summer in Avilés.
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