Victory statue of Barcelona, an air of Liberty statue
Since 1940, when people walked up the passeig de gracia street from the catalunya square until the diagonal avenue, they could spot the Victory statue, just in front of the obelisk. Like you can read, I use the past because it has been removed on january 30, 2011. Looking at far away, the statue looks like the Liberty statue not in the size because it is smaller but in the form. Once you are close enough to see it better, you can figure out that it is not exactly the same. Indeed, it represents a woman dressed in a tunic raising her right arm with a bouquet of laurel and her left hand holding a little winged victory statue. |
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The other contrast is based on its history. The statue is a work by Frederic Marès dating from 1939 when it was decided to change the work by Josep Viladomat called Lapicero dedicated to Francesc Pi i Maragall, President of the First Republic, to pay tribute to the victory of Francisco Franco. Like you can imagine, it was not at all to celebrate the liberty but the war won by the dictator in this city.
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This removal is due to the law of the historic memory, approved in 2007, which consists to remove all monuments with the francoist symbols from public areas including name streets and plaques.
In spite that it disappeared from the joan carles I square, people can still see it in the history museum of Barcelona located at the rei square.