Monument to Maria Christina of Bourbon (Madrid)

The monument to Maria Christina of Bourbon (Spanish: María Cristina de Borbón) is an instance of public art in Madrid, Spain.

Designed by Mariano Benlliure and consisting of a bronze statue of the aforementioned queen consort and regent of Spain and a stone pedestal with additional sculptural elements, the monument lies in front of the Casón del Buen Retiro.

Lobbied by General Manuel Pavía y Lacy,[1] the project for the monument was awarded to the architect Miguel Aguado [es] and to the sculptor Mariano Benlliure.

[1] The (frontal) part of the pedestal facing west displays a cartouche reading "a maría cristina de borbón.

[1] The flanks of the pedestal feature two reliefs illustrating the 1839 Embrace of Vergara and Maria Christina signing the 1832 decree of amnesty[1] (a document in favour of the political exiles who had fled from the absolutist crackdown of her husband King Ferdinand VII, in her role as governing queen during the illness of Ferdinand VII, preceding the latter's final demise in 1833).

Engraving by Bernardo Rico [ es ] published in the cover of La Ilustración Española y Americana on 30 June 1903 to account for the inauguration