Monument to Sancho VII the Strong (1983)

Author: Antonio Loperena Eseverri (Arguedas, 1922-Tudela, 2010).
Promoter/financing: Real Sociedad Económica Tudelana de Amigos del País and Tudela City Council.
Inauguration/installation: July 16th, 1983.
Location: place de la Estación (until 1995). place de Sancho VII el Fuerte.

Promoted by the Real Sociedad Económica Tudelana de Amigos del País and with the municipal economic partnership , the monument to Sancho VII el Fuerte was inaugurated on July 16, 1983, coinciding with the anniversary of the battle of Navas de Tolosa (July 16, 1212), in the old place de la Estación. Subsequently, on January 16, 1996, it was moved to the current place de Sancho VII el Fuerte, next to the access from the Avenida de Zaragoza. The motivation of the order underlined the close link of the monarch with the city of Tudela, and endorsed his virtues -Christian, noble and brave- as a symbol of the identity of Navarre.

The monument was commissioned by the Real Sociedad Económica Tudelana in 1980 to Antonio Loperena, who undertook his work after a period of iconographic study of the king, with the advice of specialists such as the Pamplona writer and historian José Joaquín Montoro Sagasti. For the sculpture he was inspired by the recumbent effigy of his tomb in the Collegiate Church of Roncesvalles, considering it the most accurate to reality, but rejuvenating the monarch to represent him in his physical fullness, translating him into a "mountain warrior" of powerful presence. In its execution he used two huge blocks of golden stone from Villamayor (Salamanca), so that its height exceeds three meters and its weight is around five tons, figures that reveal its monumental imprint. The choice of this limestone, of great hardness and resistance, gives the work an air of permanence, while allowing us to appreciate the cleanness of the chisel strokes as an example of a technical virtuosity rare in contemporary sculpture. Loperena defines the iconographic subject of the king by means of an unsheathed sword and a shield with chains and an eagle, heraldic elements that identify him as the victor of the Navas de Tolosa. The work combines naturalism in the characterization of the body and face with an emblematic character in the attributes, thus achieving a balance between historical portrait and collective symbol.

A registration on the back of the pedestal recalls the circumstances of his execution: "Erected to this monarch who reigned until his death in the Castle of Tudela. By the Real Sociedad de Amigos del País on the bicentenary of his sponsorship by Carlos III (1778-1978)". Above it is an allegorical relief of Happiness carrying the caduceus and cornucopia, emblem of the Real Sociedad Tudelana, as reflected in the degree scroll IX of its statutes published the same year of the foundation. The image, directly inspired by the Iconology of Cesare Ripa, is accompanied by the motto: "Ardiente aspiro y anhelo al bien de mi patrio suelo" (I ardently aspire and yearn for the good of my homeland).

The sculpture underwent restoration in 2024 position the restorers Mariví Mendía and Miriam García de Villoslada, consisting of cleaning, stabilization and reintegration work that has restored the clarity of the whole and ensured its conservation.