Havana, October 5 (RHC)-- A replica of the equestrian statue of Cuba’s national hero Jose Marti displayed in New York City’s Central Park has arrived in Havana.
The Cuban Television prime time newscast showed images of the crated sculpture as it was being being unloaded from a ship in Havana´s Harbor.
The original 5.6-meter high bronze sculpture is the work of American sculpture Anna Hyatt Huntington. It depicts the moment of Marti´s death in action in the locality of Dos Rios in Eastern Cuba on May 19, 1895.
Hyatt Huntington executed this piece at age 82 and it was her last major work. It was commissioned in the mid 1950´s by the Cuban government of the time as a gift of the Cuban people to the people of New York City. During 15 years of his exile, Marti lived in the city.
The original is currently placed on the southern side of Central Park, and it forms a trio with equestrian sculptures of Latin American heroes Simon Bolivar and Jose de San Martin.
The arrival takes place after a decade-long effortsspearheaded by Eusebio Leal, the Historian of Havana, that sought to bring together Cuban and US citizens in the quest of placing a replica of the statue in the Cuban capital. According toLeal´s office, the replica will be located at the “March 13 Park”, facing the Museum of the Revolution (former presidential palace), in Old Havana.
