The Monforte del Cid History Museum hosts the exhibition "Images of life and death" composed of four female terracotta figures which have been temporarily loaned by the MARQ. The artefacts, found inside cremation graves, come from the excavations carried out in the Iberian necropolis at La Albuferetaat the foot of the Tossal de Manises, in the 1930s. In them, we can see features typical of nurturing deities, such as the bulging belly and even the action of breastfeeding a young child.
"Images of life and death is composed of four pieces with Hellenising features possibly made by Punic or indigenous craftsmen from imported moulds. The deputy for Culture Juan Bautista Roselló has visited this morning accompanied by the local mayoress Antonia Cervera This exhibition, which was inaugurated at the beginning of May and which can be visited until next July.
Roselló pointed out that the The Diputación de Alicante wanted to collaborate with the Museum of History of Monforte del Cid by donating these unique pieces that evoke maternity. The first shows a young pregnant woman with a dove, the second shows her feeding a child she has just given birth to, the third shows her standing up, also carrying a child, and the fourth shows the faithful, the devotee of the Virgin of Monforte del Cid..
For its part, Antonia Cervera stressed the importance of this type of collaboration, which allows the contents of local museums in the province of Alicante to be disseminated, enhanced and made more dynamic. The mayoress also reminded the audience that moulded terracottas were also found at Monforte del Cid.In the area of Molino de Blasco, which no longer exists, there is a reference to the appearance of a cauldron of the goddess Tanit in the 1960s. Nowadays, the municipality takes up that representation of its goddess provider of eternal life and embodies it in the image of its patron saint, the Immaculate Conception.
