Rafael de la Cova
Rafael de la Cova (c. 1850 – c. 4 May 1896) was a Venezuelan sculptor active in the second half of the 19th century.
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De la Cova received some important commissions, but a number have not survived to the present day. Perhaps his best known work is a monument to Christopher Columbus called Monumento a Colón en el Golfo Triste. Now largely destroyed, it stood in Caracas for a hundred years. Its central statue was torn down from its plinth in 2004 on Columbus Day, which had been renamed in Venezuela as the Day of Indigenous Resistance.[1]
Career
De la Cova was awarded a government scholarship in 1875 which he used to study in Rome.[2] On his return to Venezuela he received a number of commissions including:
- Caracas. Sculptures in the Teatro Municipal (inaugurated 1881).
- Valencia. Bas-reliefs in the Plaza Bolivar depicting the Battle of Carabobo (inaugurated 1889).
Statue in London
A copy of his statue of Francisco de Miranda was erected in Fitzroy Square, London, in 1990.[3]
References
- ^ García Marco, Daniel (October 12, 2016). "¿Dónde está la estatua de Cristóbal Colón que fue juzgada, condenada y colgada el 12 de octubre de 2004 en Caracas?" (in Spanish). BBC Mundo. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
- ^ Salvador, José María (2003). Actuación de Rafael de la Cova hasta 1888. ExtraMuros Nueva (18), (pp. 51-77). Caracas: Universidad Central de Venezuela. Facultad de Humanidades y Educación
- ^ "Statue: Francisco de Miranda". London Remembers website. Retrieved 2020