Miguel von Dangel begins this article with a story about the death of a horse that was used in [medical] experiments. His wish that the horse be given a compassionate death was stymied, and instead, the horse ended up dying slowly, in painful agony, which the artist would later regret. Von Dangel executed a sculpture focused on the remains of that horse, “a monument of revelation of time,” he explains. In the second part of the article, the artist describes his father portrait project, and after remembering this souvenir, he states that “the portrait of my father is a horse.”

Starting in 1985, the Venezuelan artist born in Germany, Miguel von Dangel (b. 1946), began to publish a series of articles in the daily newspaper El Universal. In the articles, von Dangel shares his thoughts about art as well as Latin American culture and history. In these dense, deep journalistic pieces, he mixes fragments of his diaries (as in this case) with an intense discussion filled with suggestions, metaphors and recollections that erupt into the discourse. On this occasion, the artist is referring to a story in which he tells the origin of one of his most representative sculptures, which captured the attention of the public and the critics at the time: Monumento (1975–80). After the horse’s death, von Dangel was able to construct the piece through taxidermy, assemblage, the passage of time and outdoor weathering. Later he included it in another artwork, La Batalla de San Romano. The artist associates this cruel and violent monument with the work on the martyr of Brazilian independence, Joaquim José da Silva Xavier, Tiradentes Esquartejado [Tiradentes Dismembered, 1893]. That work was created by the painter Pedro Américo de Figueiredo e Melo, to whom von Dangel dedicates this article. He relates Pedro Américo’s work directly to his own work, specifically, the dismembered body of the leader of the Inconfidência Mineira (1789): the simple, naked representation of atrocity. Although there have been other critical readings of the von Dangel works, here, the artist seems to link them to the theme of sacrifice, one that is recurrent in his work. Perhaps it could also be associated symbolically with his memory of his father, as related in the second column of the article. [For other critical texts on his work, see the ICCA digital archive: by Yasmin Monsalve “Mi obra ha tenido que luchar contra muchos prejuicios: Un premio nacional visto con la luz de Petare” (doc. no. 1102125); three texts by Elsa Flores: “Miguel von Dangel: La respuesta latinoamericana (I)” (doc. no. 1155150), “Miguel von Dangel: La respuesta latinoamericana (III)” (doc. no. 1154906) and “Miguel von Dangel” (doc. no. 1056044); by Roberto Montero Castro “Transfiguraciones de Miguel von Dangel” (doc. no.1153996); two essays by María Luz Cárdenas, “La Batalla de San Romano de von Dangel (I) (doc. no. 1154028) and “La Batalla de San Romano de von Dangel (II)” (doc. no. 1154092); by Ruth Auerbach “Hoy, el paisaje es aquí y ahora” (doc. no. 855314); by Axel Stein “Interview with Miguel von Dangel” (doc. No. 1102348); by María Valera “Entrevista con Miguel von Dangel” (doc. no. 1154060); one by María Josefa Pérez “Miguel von Dangel: No creo el cuento de que Reverón era loco” (doc. no. 1154012); and finally, the article by Víctor Guédez “Lo barroco y lo simbólico en la obra de Miguel von Dangel” (doc. no. 1154124)].