Monument to Concepcion Arenal

The Monument to Concepción Arenal is located at the Parque del Oeste, in Madrid, Spain. It was created by José María Palma Burgos and is dedicated to Concepción Arenal, a 19th-century writer and precursor of feminism and is one of the few sculptures in Parque del Oeste created before the Civil War.

Concepción Arenal was a writer and human rights activist whose life’s work focused on working with charities and institutions for the underprivileged. She paid special attention to prisoners and received the title of Visitor of Women’s Prisons and is considered one of the forerunners of feminism in Spain.

The sculptural consists of a granite basement displaying the seated statue of Concepción Arenal, made of limestone and dressed with a judicial robe holding a book in her right hand. On her right is an allegory of Peace cast in bronze, and symbols of the ideas of Liberty, Justice and Forgiveness, sculpted in stone are to her left. An inscription at its base reads “concepción arenal. amó la ciencia. consoló el dolor” (“Concepción Arenal. She loved science. She comforted pain”).

The monument was damaged during the Spaish Civil War after which it was restored and moved to its current location in the park, near the Paseo Moret.