puq.cityPunta Arenas

The Shepherd Monument

Twelve life-size bronze figures (a shepherd, his horse, dogs and sheep) in the median of Av. Bulnes.

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In the middle of Avenida Bulnes, a shepherd braces against the pampa wind, reins in one hand and a whip in the other. There are twelve life-size figures: the shepherd, his horse, his dogs and his sheep. The sculptor Germán Montero modelled him on a real shepherd, Abel Oyarzún, from the Mina Rica ranch. The first version, in granite, was unveiled in 1944; today's bronze one in 1962, and the granite original went to Coyhaique. It honours the men who turned wool into the wealth of Magallanes, on horseback, alone on the steppe.

Source: Wikipedia en español, «Monumento al Ovejero». · Ministerio de las Culturas, las Artes y el Patrimonio, «Representación teatral para conmemorar ochenta años del Monumento al Ovejero», 15 de febrero de 2024. · puq.city research brief 04, «POI gazetteer», entry 21 (Monumento al Ovejero).

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The workers, not the owners

Twelve bronze figures — a shepherd, his horse, his dogs and his sheep — lean into the wind in the median of Avenida Bulnes. The sculptor Germán Montero Carvallo carved them in granite in 1944; they were recast in bronze in 1962. His model was a real ranch hand, Abel Oyarzún, from the Mina Rica estancia, chosen for him by the poet José Grimaldi.

The monument does not remember the men who owned the sheep stations but the men who worked them. It is the counterpoint to the palaces you will see around the square: the same wool, seen from the other side.

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