Statue of the Falling Angel

The Statue of the Fallen Angel, located in Buen Retiro Park for almost 140 years, and known in Spanish as "La Fuente del Ángel Caído", is commonly acknowledged as being the only public monument to the Devil himself in existence. Inspired by "Paradise Lost" by John Milton, this statue depicts the fall of the naked angel, the moment at which he is cast out of Heaven, and changes from Lucifer to Satan. He is depicted as a winged and naked young man, crying out in agony as the serpents entwined around his body drag him down to Hell.

The statue, sculpted by Ricardo Bellver, was cast in bronze as a submission to the Third World´s Fair in Paris. After this, the piece was acquired by the Museo del Prado, and then later on was donated to the city of Madrid, leading to its inauguration at its current location in 1885.

The sculpture is set atop a marble pillar in the centre of a fountain, which is decorated with other demonic characters and animals, and this is further surrouned by a flower bed. The falling angel is sat on a tree trunk with a snake tied to one of its legs. If you look closer at this snake, in fact, it is not an ordinary snake: the snake has 7 heads! So what is the significance of seven? Considered a "perfect" number in the Bible, it can also be understood as the expression of perfect evil, as it stands for here. Furthermore, for years it has been rumoured that the statue stands at 666 metres above sea level; in the New Testament, 666 is the "number of the beast", associated with Satan and the Anti-Christ.

Interestingly, the statue was situated here throughout the Civil War, and you can see the effects of thsi. Although hard to identify at first, on closer inspect one can see bullet holes in the statue - two on the back of the right wing, one on the left hip and one on the front of the right wing near the elbow.

By Lulu Rehman, June 2021