Cajal, Sculptural memorial in Retiro park, Madrid, Spain

The monument to Cajal is a sculptural ensemble on the Paseo de Venezuela in Madrid's Retiro park, 5.60 metres high and 12.50 metres wide, built of granite, limestone and bronze. Cajal's statue lies at the centre of a pond, reclining like an Etruscan sarcophagus figure, draped and bare-chested. A small building closes the pond, with a bronze female figure, Medical Science, between two fountains, the Fons Vitae and the Fons Mortis.

The monument was inaugurated on 24 April 1926 by King Alfonso XIII in an official ceremony that Santiago Ramón y Cajal did not attend. At the event, dictator Miguel Primo de Rivera tried to give a speech but was interrupted by whistles from students. The work by sculptor Victorio Macho appeared on the 50-peseta banknotes of the Second Spanish Republic in 1935.

The monument stands on the Paseo de Venezuela in the Retiro, not in a plaza. Its two reliefs, the Fuente de la Vida and the Fuente de la Muerte, show a family rejoicing over a newborn and a woman mourning a dead man, alluding to Cajal's work as physician and scientist. The whole ensemble appeared on the 50-peseta banknotes of the Second Spanish Republic in 1935.

The monument stands in the Paseo de Venezuela of the Retiro park, not on a plaza; the bronze figure sits in the middle of a pond, so it is seen from the surrounding path rather than approached. The park gates open daily and the ensemble can be viewed at any hour the Retiro is open.

The whole monument appeared on the 50-peseta banknotes of the Second Spanish Republic in 1935, nine years after its unveiling. At the inauguration on 24 April 1926, Miguel Primo de Rivera tried to speak and was whistled down by the students present; Cajal himself did not attend.