Miguel de Cervantes- Willy’s Garden
One afternoon, I was wandering around Washington Square Park enjoying a beautiful weather, only to discover a statue of Miguel de Cervantes, one of the most influential and well known writers of all times. The fact is that this statue is located in a garden called Willy’s Garden on the campus of NYU, which seems to be dedicated strictly for this statue. Being a fan of Cervantes’s Don Quixote, I took a closer look.
The statue was relatively big, and its metallic structure made a strong impact, as if to represent the influence of Cervantes’s work all over the world. As seen in the picture, his left hand is holding a sword, and his right hand is holding a roll of paper. These elements definitely created a perfect representation of the man- who has a reputation of an excellent writer and a great fighter as well.
This statue, though being a form of stationary art, enables to bring Cervantes’s personality to life. It allows us to almost experience his presence by being able to approach it closely and observe it from different directions.
This resonates with me, because in my 3 year Spanish class in High school, we actually read some of Miguel De Cervantes’ works! I agree with you that the sculpture makes him look very powerful and influential to show how impactful his works were, and still are today. I think the reason for him holding the sword is to show that his writing is so powerful and effective as holding a sword would be analogous to holding his pen.