{"id":18844,"date":"2026-02-18T17:50:04","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T16:50:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/artapartamento.com\/?page_id=18844"},"modified":"2026-02-18T17:54:37","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T16:54:37","slug":"the-cespedes-soliloquies","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/artapartamento.com\/en\/los-soliloquios-de-cespedes\/","title":{"rendered":"The soliloquies of C\u00e9spedes"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-page\" data-elementor-id=\"18844\" class=\"elementor elementor-18844\" data-elementor-post-type=\"page\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5b29bcc1 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"5b29bcc1\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-395bce27 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"395bce27\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-31efb736 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image-carousel\" data-id=\"31efb736\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;slides_to_show&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;navigation&quot;:&quot;none&quot;,&quot;autoplay&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;,&quot;pause_on_hover&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;,&quot;pause_on_interaction&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;,&quot;autoplay_speed&quot;:5000,&quot;infinite&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;,&quot;effect&quot;:&quot;slide&quot;,&quot;speed&quot;:500}\" data-widget_type=\"image-carousel.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-image-carousel-wrapper swiper\" role=\"region\" aria-roledescription=\"carousel\" aria-label=\"Carousel of images\" dir=\"ltr\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-image-carousel swiper-wrapper swiper-image-stretch\" aria-live=\"off\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"swiper-slide\" role=\"group\" aria-roledescription=\"slide\" aria-label=\"1 south 1\"><a data-elementor-open-lightbox=\"yes\" data-elementor-lightbox-slideshow=\"31efb736\" data-e-action-hash=\"#elementor-action%3Aaction%3Dlightbox%26settings%3DeyJpZCI6MTg4MTMsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOlwvXC9hcnRhcGFydGFtZW50by5jb21cL3dwLWNvbnRlbnRcL3VwbG9hZHNcLzIwMjZcLzAyXC82Li1Mb3Mtc29saWxvcXVpb3MtZGUtQ2VzcGVkZXMuanBnLndlYnAiLCJzbGlkZXNob3ciOiIzMWVmYjczNiJ9\" href=\"https:\/\/artapartamento.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/6.-Los-soliloquios-de-Cespedes.jpg.webp\"><figure class=\"swiper-slide-inner\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"swiper-slide-image\" src=\"https:\/\/artapartamento.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/6.-Los-soliloquios-de-Cespedes.jpg.webp\" alt=\"Jos\u00e9 Manuel Mes\u00edas\" \/><\/figure><\/a><\/div>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-76d14c6a e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"76d14c6a\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-34aa1745 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"34aa1745\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\"><a href=\"https:\/\/artapartamento.com\/en\/category\/artistas\/jose-manuel-mesias\/\" rel=\"tag\">Jos\u00e9 Manuel Mes\u00edas<\/a><\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5763e13b elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"5763e13b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><i>The soliloquies of C\u00e9spedes<\/i>. From the series: <i>Index of <\/i><\/p><p><i>Images<\/i>.<\/p><p>Mule taxidermy, chess set and straps.<\/p><p>135 x 75 x 181 cm<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4f3461f6 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"4f3461f6\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul><li>Chess board and chess pieces belonging to Fernando Figueredo Socarr\u00e1s, donated by Carlos Manuel de C\u00e9spedes del Castillo.<\/li><li>Taxidermy work commissioned by Major General Francisco Javier C\u00e9spedes to Miguel Bravo Sant\u00edes, physician and amateur biologist, former secretary of C\u00e9spedes; made with two mule haunches from the San Lorenzo farm.<\/li><\/ul><p>The curious piece is based on an anecdote by C\u00e9spedes, who tells of having seen one of his mules, Candela, give birth to a deformed Siamese calf that, surprisingly, was born alive and walked a few steps before dying just a minute later. The mule had apparently been ridden by the donkey Mas\u00f3n, on which C\u00e9spedes carried his personal belongings. Since mules are generally sterile, when they give birth, their offspring are usually weak or have abnormalities that do not survive birth.<\/p><p>The image of the object was used by the organization chaired by Bravo, <em>Brothers of Silence<\/em>, which would give rise to the ill-advised sedition of Lagunas de Varona. The emblem designed for the secret \u201ccespedista party\u201d incorporated, on the animal's rump, a chessboard where a single white king appeared, with all its pieces gathered at the opposite end. In Bravo's words, when explaining the reasons for his conspiracy:<\/p><p><em>\u201cA headless Republic where those of the same species no longer speak the same language and do not understand each other (...) the board is a metaphor of the betrayal made by the Cubans to the legitimate leader of the Republic, who was a master of the game of chess, an allegory of military thought.\u201d<\/em><\/p><p>The Father of the Cuban Nation, Carlos Manuel de C\u00e9spedes, spent his last days confined in the mountains of eastern Cuba after being illegally deposed from the presidency of the Republic in Arms. The pages of his diary are filled with passionate reflections on his life, his role in history, his enemies, the revolution and numerous symbolic images that refer to the sensation of an imminent tragic end.<\/p><p>The piece functions as a metaphor of his agony and loneliness, as well as of the recurrent failure in our history caused by an evil that is born from within. The Siamese mules, presented as a historical relic, could be perfectly extracted from the hero's nightmare: the body of a nation divided under the greatest evil of colonialism. On the rump, in a strange chess move, the white king is left alone in front of his own, alluding to how C\u00e9spedes was abandoned by the Cubans and left at the mercy of the Spaniards.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3bfd19e4 elementor-align-left elementor-widget elementor-widget-button\" data-id=\"3bfd19e4\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"button.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-button-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"elementor-button elementor-size-sm\" role=\"button\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-content-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-text\">Inquiry<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Los soliloquios de C\u00e9spedes. De la serie: \u00cdndice de Im\u00e1genes. Taxidermia de mula, juego de ajedrez y correas. 135 x 75 x 181 cm Tablero y fichas de ajedrez pertenecientes a Fernando Figueredo Socarr\u00e1s, donados por Carlos Manuel de C\u00e9spedes del Castillo. Trabajo de taxidermia encomendado por el Mayor General Francisco Javier C\u00e9spedes a Miguel [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18813,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[65],"class_list":["post-18844","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-jose-manuel-mesias","tag-obra","post","post-with-thumbnail","post-with-thumbnail-large"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artapartamento.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artapartamento.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artapartamento.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artapartamento.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artapartamento.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18844"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/artapartamento.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18844\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artapartamento.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artapartamento.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artapartamento.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artapartamento.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}