Bust of Abd al-Rahman III, Cadrete facts for kids
A bronze bust of Abd al-Rahman III, the first Caliph of Córdoba, was unveiled in June 2016 in the small Spanish town of Cadrete near Zaragoza in Aragon. Three years later, it was removed by the right-wing new local government. The removal prompted debate on how Spain should interpret the legacy of Al-Andalus, the Muslim realms of the Middle Ages.
Background
Abd al-Rahman III, the eighth and final Emir and first Caliph of Córdoba, ordered the construction of Cadrete's castle in 935 AD while in the area to crush a rebellion by the Banu Tujib vassal dynasty. A bust commissioned in his honor was unveiled on 18 June 2016 in the town's Plaza de Aragón, and celebrated with a medieval fair.
The bust was sculpted by Fernando Ortiz Villarroya of Teruel. Ortiz is linked to Cadrete as his partner is from there. He took no payment for his work, though casting it in bronze cost €7,000 of public money. He characterises the work of art as "a simple portrait. It has a stern facial expression because he was a leader, but also tender because it is stylised".
See also
In Spanish: Busto de Abderramán III (Cadrete) para niños
