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A walk through Tudela's commemorative sculpture

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Hortelano (1973)

Author: Antonio Loperena Eseverri (Arguedas, 1922-Tudela, 2010).
Promoter/financing: private commission by Julián Marín. Donated to the Town Hall in 2000.
Inauguration/installation: 1973.
Location: Private estate of Julián Marín (until 2000). Puerta de la Mejana (until 2024). Muro Street (from 2024).

The sculpture was commissioned in 1973 from Antonio Loperena by the Tudela bullfighter Julián Marín for his private estate, as a tribute to his father Bernabé, a famous market gardener in La Ribera. In 2000, Julián Marín donated the piece to the Town Hall, which installed it next to the entrance to the Mejana, near the bridge over the Ebro River. Since then, the Peña Frontón celebrates in Santa Ana's festivities a tribute to the vegetable gardener around the sculpture, a celebration that has consolidated its popular roots. In June 2024, at the request of Ismael Loperena, son of the author, the sculpture was moved to Muro Street, the axis that connects the historic center with the river and the Mejana, to gain visibility and prevent vandalism.

Carved in floresta stone and about two meters tall, the Loperena market gardener is at the same time a portrait of Bernabé Marín and the archetype of the market gardening worker, with his beret tilted to one side, open shirt, sash and rolled-up pants, bare feet, hoe on his left shoulder and saddlebags from which some artichokes, "the flower of the Navarrese market garden", are peeking out. The gesture of the right hand on the waist and the slight fatigue of the face build the story of the daily work lived with dignity, and set the social portrait of a city that recognizes itself in it. The recent move to Muro Street seems to reinforce this reading: from the threshold of the Mejana to the pedestrian urban axis, the gardener goes from "keeping it" to "going out to his meeting", by multiplying the daily contact . Hence, in addition to its artistic value - it is one of the most successful works of the ribero sculptor - it has become a true symbol of the identity of Tudela and the people of Tudela. Therefore, this sculpture and that of the Hortelana are much more than tributes to local customs: they are authentic social portraits in which the collective identity linked to the orchard and vegetables is recognized. 

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aula_abierta_itinerarios_45_bibliografia

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