BOGOTA (AFP) – The iconic work “Peace Dove” by artist Fernando Botero, donated to the Colombian government in 2016, will be accompanied by the The author’s coffin was used to pay farewell tributes.
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The white statue with a golden spire was placed on a pedestal to the left of the coffin, which was draped in the Colombian flag and held in the burning chapel in the chamber of the Capitol building in Bogotá for the wake. That started on Friday.
The left-wing president previously said via the X network (formerly Twitter): “I have directed that when paying tribute to teacher Fernando Botero, his works, the dove of peace, should accompany him.”
Following Petro’s orders, the presidential guard formed a street of honor and removed the bronze sculpture, which is about 70 centimeters high, from the Nariño House, the seat of government.
Botero, one of the most important artists of the 20th century and one of the most popular in the world, died of pneumonia at his home in Monaco on September 15 at the age of 91.
“September 15, the date of his death, coincided with that date, but in 2016 the sculpture was donated to the national government,” Petro said.
Then he also came to the attention of Congress.
The sculpture was transferred to the National Museum in 2018 by decision of then-President Juan Manuel Santos (2010-2018), and in 2022 it was presented to the National Museum by the first leftist ruler Petro. Petro) returned to Casa Nariño. Colombian history…
In September 2016, just days before Colombia was about to sign a peace agreement with the FARC guerrillas, once the most powerful insurgent group in the United States, Botero handed over the politically controversial task. Gave it to Santos. Antechamber of the Hall of Gobelinos de Nariño.
A week of memorial services for Botero began on Friday in Bogota and Medellín, where funeral chapels were opened to the public. The coffin will be transported on Monday to the last city of the artist’s birthplace for cremation.
His ashes will be returned to the Italian town of Pietrasanta in Europe and buried next to the grave of his wife, the Greek artist Sofia Vari, who died in May.
© 2023 AFP