Fernando Botero: The artist’s body arrives in Colombia

Coffin of the Colombian master Fernando Botero, fdied in Monaco at the age of 91he arrived in Bogotá where a three-day tribute will be paid to him starting tomorrow, which will continue on Monday and until next Thursday in his native Medellín.

His children Fernando, Lina and Juan Carlos Botero Zea They accompanied him on a flight from Paris to Bogotá, at whose airport Colombian Minister of Culture Juan David Correa was waiting for them, who pointed out that the National Capitol would be open to the public for three days “so that all Colombians can see in the burning chamber.” .

After the necessary procedures, the coffin was transported by hearse to the funeral home where it will remain until this Friday, when it will be transported to the Elliptical Hall of the Capitol where the first official tribute will be given.

Fernando Botero Angulo He was born in Medellín on April 19, 1932 and is recognized as the most universal Colombian artist for his figurative style, developed through the soft forms of his voluminous figures that he never liked to be called “fat”.

In the Capitol, the facade of which is decorated with banners with the artist’s image, the coffin will be welcomed by the president of the Congress, Senator Iván Name, and an honor guard of congressmen, Senate News reports.

On Monday, Boter’s body will be transferred to the Primate’s Cathedral, which is located as Capitol in the central square Plaza de Bolívar, for a mass attended by Colombian President Gustavo Petro and other high authorities of the country.

Later, the teacher’s coffin will be taken to Botero Museum, created in 2000 with a donation to the Bank of the Republic of 123 works by its author and 85 works by international artists, including Picasso, Renoir, Monet and Dalí, for another tribute.

“On Monday at two in the afternoon we will do a small baroque chamber concert in Botero Museum, which is a symbol of his generosity, his loyalty, his love for our country. The collection that he gave to Colombia is a collection that few artists have given to their countries and this is a gesture of gratitude,” the minister added.

On Monday, the coffin will be taken to Medellín, where it will remain in the cremation chamber at the Antioquia Museum, which houses the largest Botero collection in the world, until Thursday, the 28th.

On that day, another mass will be celebrated in his memory in St Metropolitan Basilica, Cathedral of Medellinbefore he will be taken to the Italian town of Pietrasanta where he will be buried next to his wife, the Greek artist Sophia Vari, who died last May.

“The two will rest in Pietrasanta. So it’s a story of mourning, it’s a story of love, and as (Francisco de) Quevedo said, it’s a story of ‘constant love beyond death’,” the minister added.