Monumento a Bécquer

This marble monument has been declared to be of Cultural Interest (BIC in Spanish) and is dedicated to Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, a poet from Seville.

The work stems from an initiative by the Álvarez Quintero family who were great admirers of Bécquer and wrote a play for the theatre ("La rima eterna" or the eternal rhyme) that was able to provide a large part of the finance for the monument. Together with the sculptor Lorenzo Collaut Valera they chose this rotunda and inaugurated a tribute to the romantic poet on December 9, 1911.

The group of sculptures consists of figures arranged on five sides of an octagonal pedestal. Firstly there is a bust of the poet with his date of birth and death; then there are three women seated on a bench that symbolise the three states of love: "love hoped for", "love possessed" and "love lost". These represent Bécquer's poem "El amor que pasa" (Love that happens) and finally, there are two bronze figures: a man writhing in pain, symbolising "wounded love," and a young Cupid, representing "love that causes pain".