Colombian President Gustavo Petro ordered on Saturday the transfer of the work “Dove of Peace”, by the late and renowned sculptor and painter Fernando Botero, to the Congress headquarters where a burning chapel stands.
“I have given instructions that during the tributes to the teacher Fernando Botero, his work, the dove of peace, should accompany him,” the president wrote on the social network X, formerly known as Twitter, and recalled that the sculpture was donated to the country during the government of the then president Juan Manuel Santos, on September 15, 2016.
Petro highlighted the coincidence of the date of the donation with the day of the renowned artist’s death, which occurred on September 15 in Monaco due to pneumonia. He was 91 years old.
Once the sculpture arrived at the legislative headquarters in Bogotá, Petro wrote that “peace needs a sustained flight,” accompanied by a photo of the work upon entering the facility where the artist is being veiled.
Botero’s family accepted the transfer of his remains to Colombia, where they will remain for three days and then be returned to the Italian town of Pietrasanta, where he will be buried next to his wife Sofía Vari, who died in May.
Botero’s remains arrived on Friday amid military honors and were carried in a street of honor to the Elliptical Hall of Congress.
Lina Botero, daughter of the late artist, thanked the government and the country for the tributes to her father, and highlighted that the legacy he leaves behind is “colossal.”
Fernando Botero was born in Medellín in 1932. His world-renowned artistic work was characterized by voluminous figures in which he captured, in both painting and sculpture, Colombian culture.
