Lilia Jilma Madera Valiente (September 18, 1915 – February 21, 2000) was a well-known

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

n sculptor. Her two most famous works are the Christ of Havana and the bust of

José Martí José Julián Martí Pérez (; 28 January 1853 – 19 May 1895) was a Cuban nationalism, nationalist, poet, philosopher, essayist, journalist, translator, professor, and publisher, who is considered a Cuban national hero because of his role in ...

on the

Pico Turquino Pico Turquino (), sometimes erroneously spelled as Pico Torquino, is the highest point in Cuba. It is located in the southeast part of the island, in the Sierra Maestra mountain range in the municipality of Guamá, Santiago de Cuba Province. It ...

, which is the highest peak of Cuba. Born in La Victoria,

Pinar del Río Pinar del Río is the capital city of Pinar del Río Province, Cuba. With a population of 191,081 (2022), it is the List of cities in Cuba, 10th-largest city in Cuba. Inhabitants of the area are called ''Pinareños''. History Pinar del Río was ...

, Cuba, she studied painting and sculpture at the

Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes "San Alejandro" Academia Nacional de Bellas Artes San Alejandro, is the oldest and most prestigious fine arts school in Cuba. It is also known as Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes "San Alejandro", Academia San Alejandro, or San Alejandro Academy. The school is lo ...

under the tutelage of

Juan José Sicre Juan José Sicre (born Juan José Sicre Velez; 1898 – 1974) was a Cuban sculptor. His most famous sculpture is of José Martí y Pérez (1958) (the José Martí Memorial) in the Plaza de la Revolución in Havana. Sicre graduated from an art a ...

(the sculptor of the

José Martí Memorial The José Martí Memorial () is a memorial to José Martí, a national hero of Cuba, located on the northern side of the Plaza de la Revolución in the Vedado area of Havana. It consists of a star-shaped tower, a statue of Martí surrounded by six ...

). Her statue of the Christ of Havana was a commission she won in 1953 during the government of

Fulgencio Batista Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar (born Rubén Zaldívar; January 16, 1901 – August 6, 1973) was a Cuban military officer and politician who played a dominant role in Cuban politics from his initial rise to power as part of the 1933 Revolt of t ...

. It was done in

Carrara marble Carrara marble, or Luna marble (''marmor lunense'') to the Romans, is a type of white or blue-grey marble popular for use in sculpture and building decor. It has been quarried since Roman times in the mountains just outside the city of Carrara ...

and is tall and weighs 320 tons. It is composed of 67 pieces that were brought from Italy, where Madera carved the statue and was blessed there by

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...

. It was inaugurated on December 24, 1958, just two weeks before the fall of the Batista government. She worked and made some exhibitions at New York's Sculpture Center, in USA, and exhibited other works at the City of Havana Local Council (Ayuntamiento de la Habana), the

Lyceum and Lawn Tennis Club Lyceum and Lawn Tennis Club ( Spanish: ''Liceo y Club de Tenis sobre Césped'') was a Cuban women's cultural, social, and physical fitness organization. Founded in 1929 in Havana, its first president was the journalist, suffragist and feminist, Ber ...

, and some painting and sculpture national exhibition halls, in Cuba. Her bust of José Martí was done in 1953 and placed at the Pico Turquino during the centennial celebrations of Martí's birth in 1963 by Celia Sanchez. The history of why this statue was created was told to be that Batitisa's wife prayed so hard that her husband would not be killed in the violent beginning of the revolution, that she commissioned this monument to show her gratitude for her answered prayers, however this may be an urban legend.

References

*Gretel Báez Padrón; Lic: Mayra Isabel Sajión Sánchez, Lic: Felina González Hernández. "Lilia Gilma Madera Valiente, escultora" (in Spanish). Cuban modern sculptors 1915 births 2000 deaths Cuban women sculptors 20th-century Cuban sculptors {{Cuba-sculptor-stub