Monument to the Heroes of 1811

On 24 December 1909, Tarragona City Council agreed to produce a monument in memory of those who defended the city against the siege by French troops led by General Suchet in 1811 during the War of Independence or the French War.

The sponsor was Marià Rius i Montaner, the first Comte de Rius, who contributed 11,000 pesetas to the initiative, while the City Council contributed 14,000. On 11 April 1910, the Municipal Corporation announced a closed tender for its execution, inviting: Carles Mani, Anselm Nogués and Julio Antonio. The jury was made up of the sculptors Josep Llimona and Miquel Oslé, the art professor of the Tarragona Institute, Francisco de Cidón, and the historian Emili Morera. Julio Antonio won the competition with one of the two projects he submitted, and the announcement was made 9 April 1911.

In the report on the project, Julio Antonio writes: ...avoiding all the repudiable monuments to the heroes of independence ephemerally inaugurated, in which everything has been resolved with rifles, helmets, swords, canons and unlikely figures and very poor taste… I felt and feel like a sculptor by depicting the sensation of heroism through the most beautiful and harmonious nude form that my intelligence and efforts could achieve.