Monument to Luis Adaro

After his death in 1915, La Montera society requested that his memory should be perpetuated by means of a commemorative monument. The work was entrusted to the Sevillian sculptor Lorenzo Coullaut Varela. He was trained in the workshop of Agustín Querol, and had a recognised prestige (he was awarded at the Exposición Nacional de Bellas Artes and won the Premio Nacional de Escultura in 1906) and a solid experience in public monuments. He was responsible, among others, for the monuments to José María de Pereda in Santander and to Campoamor in Madrid. Financed by a crowdfunding, the work erected in recognition of Luis Adaro was inaugurated on the 25th July 1918, coinciding with the festivities of Santiago.

The monument is based on a detailed architectural design, rising on a square stepped base on which the popular figure of La Carbonera (a pit brow woman) sits. Recreating the scaffolding of a mine, the front of the monument supports a wagon dumping the coal. The mining coat of arms, ivy and laurels, as the main decorative elements, complete an eloquent composition that culminates with the bust of the effigy, representing Luis Adaro y Magro, presiding over the whole. This iconographic choice was impregnated with rhetoric, which is far from being casual. This suits the honoree, his interests and occupations and exalts his dedication to the arts of mining and industry. However, the representation is also adapted to the context, to the setting in which it is located: the Dorado Park in Sama, a space with a marked industrial and mining character. The monumental piece is impeccably crafted with unquestionable technical correctness. It combines simplicity and volumetric strength, naturalism and symbolism.

The inscription on the back bears the dedication: "To Don Luis Adaro 1849-1915. A righteous man, an eminent engineer and an enlightened geologist who promoted the industrial development of Asturias with his leadership".

Natalia Tielve García