Viriato or the Monument to Viriathus is an instance of public art in Zamora, Spain. Dedicated to Viriathus and located in the eponymous plaza [es], the monument consists of a bronze sculpture of the Lusitanian chieftain-shepherd put on an unpolished stone pedestal that features a battering ram.

Viriato

Coordinates	41.502494°N 5.748472°W / 41.502494; -5.748472
Location	Plaza de Viriato [es], Zamora, Spain
Designer	Eduardo Barrón
Material	Bronze, granite
Height	2 m (statue)
Opening date	12 January 1904
Dedicated to	Viriathus

History and description

The statue is a work by Eduardo Barrón cast in bronze in Rome at Nelli's foundry in 1883; it was later bought by the Spanish State.[1]

The leading statue of the sculptural ensemble represents a standing and almost naked full-body figure of Viriathus, with his right arm extended in attitude of rallying his troops, while the left forearm holds a tunic and the left hand grabs a sheathed sword below the level of an abnormally long handle (creating a phallic perception from certain angles).[2][3]

The statue stands 2-metre high and its bronze base reads terror romanorum ("terror of the Romans"),[4] an epithet for Viriathus attributed to the Orosius' chronicles. The statue and the quadrangular base stand on a granite pedestal taken from Torrefrades [es], one of the pretenders claimed to be the Viriatho's birthplace.[5] The granite block features a battering ram emerging from its front side,[1] cast in bronze in 1903.[6]

Failing to undergo a proper ceremony of inauguration, the monument was casually unveiled by transients on 12 January 1904.[7]

The monument, with Viriathus' posture identified as performing a Roman (fascist) salute, was embraced by the Falange as an icon during the Francoist dictatorship.[8]

• 
  Detail of the head of the battering ram
• 
  Detail of the statue

References

Citations

Bibliography

• Ocejo Durand, Nel (2002). "Estudio del grupo escultórico de Viriato de Eduardo Barrón González en Zamora" (PDF). Studia Zamorensia. Zamora: Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (6): 229–254. ISSN 0214-736X – via Dialnet.
• Rincón García, Wifredo (2017). "Muerte y amor en la escultura española del siglo XIX" (PDF). In Castán Chocarro, Alberto; Lomba Serrano, Concha (eds.). Eros y Thánatos: reflexiones sobre el gusto III. pp. 183–206. ISBN 978-84-9911-434-7.

На других языках

[es] Estatua de Viriato (Zamora)