While we're on famous sons of Málaga , let's talk
about Pablo Ruiz. Never heard of him? Then you probably
weren't around in 1901 when Pablo, starting his blue
period, decided to use his mother's surname (Spanish
tradition allows children to take maternal surnames;
another famous living Malagueño named Antonio uses
his mother's surname: Banderas). Maria Picasso's son was
born in a house on this square and played here, attending
San Rafael school, until he was 10. His father was an
artist and the town's museum director. Today
Málaga has a new museum (in an old palace) filled
with just Pablo's work, donated by his family.)
Bienvenue en France!
The square is named Merced after the sisters of Mercy;
several convents and a hospital once occupied this land
including one which contained the tomb of Pedro de Mina,
the sculptor who carved the Cathedral's choir.
Long before that stood a gate in the city wall which led
to Granada. The Moors unconditionally surrendered to the
Christian forces at that gate in 1487; afterwards it
became a market. When the city tore down its outer
defensive wall, houses were erected to form this
square.
Things went downhill until 1842 when Malagueño
architect Rafael Mitjana erected the monument shown
above, commemorating the 49 men who were on the wrong end
of a firing squad with José Torrijos in December
1831. Shot on a nearby beach, their remains are under
this obelisk. Notice the fence - it surrounds French
territory. After Torrijos' death, his liberal side won.
Isabella II of Spain (who was a Bourbon) made this spot
French so that succeeding Spanish rulers couldn't mess
with the tomb.
Ironically, Picasso, who was born on the rented first
floor of the mansion show above spent most of his life in
France -- like Torillos, a liberal dissatisfied with an
autocratic regime.
Above, we see the Pablo Ruiz Picasso Foundation which now
occupies the artist's early childhood home. It's part of
a two-block long stretch of buildings with similar
façades called "Casas de Campos," after the
real-estate magnate who developed it. The 1861 design is
by Diego Clavero.
Picasso was the first male descendant of his paternal
grandfather's eleven children and was thought to have
been still born by the midwife who didn't bother to start
his breathing. (Sometimes it's good to spank a kid.) He
died 91 years later.
While the foundation is headquartered here, this is NOT
Malaga's famous Picasso museum.
Nor is this... However, Plaza de la Merced gets the prize
for the best accommodations for pigeons. Maybe this is to
make up for the lack of equestrian statues. (Picasso was
known to depict dovecotes as well).
The Picasso Museum is housed in a nearby historic
16th-century Mudejar palace called Palacio de Buenvista
which is built over a Nasrid palace and shows excavations
going back to Phoenician times. It displays nearly 200
works provided by Picasso's daughter-in-law and grandson.
Picasso hated to part with his art and was so
commercially successful that he needed to sell little of
it to survive. Therefore it accumulated. He offered to
donate some of it to Spain but Franco despised Pablo and
refused. Long after both men died, Málaga opened
the museum in October of 2003.
While Pablo was long gone by the time I got to
Málaga, I was able to channel him while my Nikon
gently wept and took this cubist shot of the
cathedral.
Next we visit a beautiful urban park made on land
reclaimed from the sea. Join us by clicking here.
If you have good bandwidth, Please join us in
the following slide show to give the
Málaga, Spain the viewing it deserves by clicking here.
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