| Don Quixote | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Sculpture in 2006 | |
 | |
| Artist | Aurelio Teno |
| Year | 1976 (1976) |
| Type | Bronze |
| Dimensions | 4.6 m × 1.8 m × 3.7 m (15 ft × 6 ft × 12 ft) |
| Location | Kennedy Center,Washington, D.C.,United States |
| Coordinates | 38°53′49″N77°03′17″W / 38.89693°N 77.05459°W /38.89693; -77.05459 |
| Owner | National Park Service |
Don Quixote is a 1976 sculpture by Aurelio Teno located at the northeast corner of theKennedy Center inWashington, D.C. The sculpture ofDon Quixote and his horseRocinante was a gift fromSpain for theUnited States Bicentennial.
In 1993, theSmithsonian Institution'sSave Outdoor Sculpture! program surveyed and assessed the work and found that it needed treatment.[1]
Don Quixote depicts a bronze and stone figure ofDon Quixote wearing a fullsuit of armor riding his horseRocinante which emerges from a jagged piece of stone.[1] The jagged stone is Colmenar stone fromPamplona. Only the front portion of Don Quixote and his horse are visible. The horse appears to be charging forward out of the stone with his head raised, mouth open, and hooves kicking. The left foot of the horse is not formed, intentionally, by Teno. In Don Quixote's hand is a 12 feet (3.7 m)lance of steel. Both figures are loosely modeled and the figures and stone rest on a 66 short tons (60,000 kg) oval base measuring 4 by 5 by 12 feet (1.2 m × 1.5 m × 3.7 m) which was cut into three pieces for transport by ship to the United States.[2]
An inscription on the sculpture readsSCULPTOR / A. TENO / MADRID / ESPAÑA – 1976.[1]
King Juan Carlos I andQueen Sofía presented the sculpture June 3, 1976, on behalf of Spain to the United States in honor of its bicentennial.[1][2]
Spanish artist Aurelio Teno started his professional sculpture career at age eight. He describedDon Quixote as his life's work, having devoted his career to creating art about the subject.[2]
