Monumento a Manolete - Cordoba

The Monument of Manolete is a sculptural ensemble dedicated to the bullfighter Manuel Laureano Rodríguez Sánchez, located in the Plaza del Conde de Priego. This monument, the work of the sculptor Manuel Álvarez Laviada (Trubia 1894 - Madrid, 1958), was inaugurated on May 8, 1956.

On July 4, 1917, Manuel Rodríguez Sánchez, "Manolete", was born in the traditional neighborhood of Santa Marina. With a long line of bullfighters, he recorded his first bullfight on July 2, 1839 in the Maestranza bullring in Seville . Since then, the career of this promising young bullfighter has been unstoppable. He performed his art in the best Spanish and even international arenas and was acclaimed by the public in Mexico, Peru, Colombia and Venezuela.

His friends remembered him as a person of great seriousness and character , qualities that earned him the respect of the public. His personal style of fighting, facing the bull in profile, filled the arenas with ovations.

On August 28, 1947, Manolete shared the bill in Linares with Gitanillo de Triana and Luís Miguel. The second bull of the six that belonged to him, a beautiful Mihura, killed him and ended the life and career of this bullfighting caliph. The Cordoba Bullfighting Museum is a collection of the life and career of the Cordoban bullfighter.

There are five caliphs of bullfighting : Lagartijo, whose bust in Plaza Vaca de Alfaro was created by the sculptor Mateo Inurra and inaugurated in 2002; Rafael Guerra "Guerrita"; Rafael González "Machaquito"; Manolete, who also has a bust in the Plaza de la Lagunilla, the work of Juan Ávalos from 1948; and Manuel Benitez "El Cordobes".

Willem Vandenameele