Oviedo’s Statues: Maternity

Columbian artist Fernando Botero has an instantly recognizable style. Plumpness, I suppose it could be called. Plump animals, plump objects, plump prisoners and, above all, plump women.

Fernando Botero Oviedo

One of Oviedo’s best statues is Botero’s La Maternidad, found in the Plaza de la Escandalera. A woman, hugely fat but also strikingly beautiful, looks to the right while her happy, fat infant plays on her knee. The proportions of the woman’s body are wild, with massive legs and hips supporting a relatively lithe upper body. Her breasts are small and pert, and her hair tied back into a long ponytail.

Despite her obesity, the feeling conveyed is one of health, with its clearly loved and well-nourished infant. Maternity an exuberant celebration of life, paying tribute to the joys of motherhood, and there can be little wonder that it’s one of the most popular of Oviedo’s many statues.

Fernando Botero Mother with child
Asturias Fernando Botero statues
Child Mother Statue Fernando Botero Spain

This Post Has 8 Comments

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  2. Mark H

    I love cities that have enough pride to add artworks and sculptures to their city environs. Shows a proud and interesting city to me. These are very striking indeed.

  3. gms, midwife

    Thanks for these beautiful photos of a place I’ve never been. Especially for the maternity related ones, which I love collecting. How exciting to have sculpture everywhere on the city streets! Your photos are lovely! gms, midwife in Kent, UK

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