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King Philip III (Felipe III) Statue, Madrid

The statue in the centre of Plaza Mayor is that of King Philip III of Spain riding his stallion triumphantly. This bronze statue may only be of slight interest to many tourists but the statue of King Philip III has had an intriguing history and is worthy of more than just a quick glance and photo.

The statue was commissioned by King Philip III (1578–1621) who ruled over a joint Spanish and Portuguese empire but history remembers him as Philip the Pious due to his deeply religious beliefs.

The statue of King Philip III was designed and sculptured by the Italian artist Jean Boulogne a member of the Medici in Florence. The Medici were so afraid that Jean Boulogne talents would be exploited by the other major royal families of the era (mainly the Spanish and the Austrian) he was forbid to leaving the city.

It is then quiet ironic that the last sculpture Jean Boulogne worked on before his death, at the grand old age of 79, was for the Spanish Royal family. Jean Boulogne appetence Pietro Tacca completed the statue of King Philip III, and it was Pietro Tacca who designed the unique reared statue for Philip’s heir king Philip IV.

The statue was presented to King Philip III from the Grand Duke of Florence in 1616 and stood in the Casa de Campo. The statue stood pride of place in the Casa de Campo until 1848 when Queen Elizabeth II ordered the statue to be moved to the Plaza Mayor.

During the early stages of the Franco dictatorship of Spain many of the relics and statues with connections to the old Spanish royal family were destroyed and the statue of King Philip III was no exception being toppled from its mount.

As the bronze statue smashed onto the stones of the Plaza Mayor hundreds of small bones tumbled out of the hollow innards of the statue. The vandals were instantly taken aback by the sheer number of tine bones, thinking it was some kind of superstitious guardian of the monument who had been let out by the smashing of the statue.

The bones were later identified as the skeletons of small town dwelling birds but the mystery as to why they had been collected in the statue remained a puzzle until the statue was repaired after the Franco dictatorship. It was found that the birds had been entering the statue through a small hole but the reverse side was much tighter so the poor birds had starved to death within the Statue of King Philip III. Today the statue takes the central position in one of Madrid’s main squares and the repaired statue has had the small hole blocked up!

Madrid Tourist Guide

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