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The statue of Alfonso X the wise (3 of 3)

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• The statue of Alfonso X the wise (3 of 3)

The statue of King Alfonso X of Castile, known as 'the Wise', is a work by Juan Polo Velasco, who is from Fernán Núñez and was born in 1923. He is one of the favoured disciples of Mariano Benlliure and his works are known for their diversity in terms of subject. They include religious and monumental sculptures, portraits, nudes, everyday people in groups or as individuals, farmwork typical of his homeland and scenes of bullfighting and flamenco. He carried out undergraduate studies at the Escuela de Bellas Artes de Santa Isabel de Hungría in Seville. An untiring worker, his pieces number in the hundreds. They have been displayed in a large number of individual and group exhibitions. He was awarded the Premio Nacional de Escultura Jacinto Higueras. His sculptures can without a doubt be classified as realism.

Alfonso X the Wise (Toledo 1221 – Seville 1284) was King of Castile and León, son of Ferdinand III 'The Saint' and one of the most significant political and cultural figures of the Middle Ages in the Iberian Peninsula. During his time as infante his achievements were considerable and he inherited the throne in 1252 upon the death of his father.
In this sculpture, produced in 1965, the King is depicted with marked frontalism. He is dressed as a warrior but with a cloak, sceptre and royal crown which bestow him with a great sense of dignity. In his left hand he bears a thick book, a clear nod to his intellectual, literary, scientific, historic and legal attributes. It also acknowledges the fact that he sponsored the creation of the Translation School of Toledo, thanks to which we now know the Classical, Greek and Roman writers.
From Ferdinand III's visit to Cordoba onwards, the Alcázar became the monarchs' habitual place of residence. It was Alfonso X the Wise who ordered the first constructions in the Alcázar to be built, although it was his descendant Alfonso XI who completed the building works.