In 1910, during the celebrations of the May Revolution Centennial, a multitude of events and international expositions where organized in Argentina. Many communities and countries around the world gifted monuments to commemorate the occasion.

The local authorities joined this “monument mania” and considered that it was about time to do something regarding the “May Pyramid”, a small and humble monument, erected in 1811 in the current Plaza de Mayo just a year after the 1810 revolution.  This small pillar (misnamed as a pyramid) was done in times of poverty and lack of resources and seemed out of place in times of splendor and wealth of a thriving Argentina.

The beginning of the 20th Century was the last time, in the country’s history, that it was seriously considered removing the Pyramid. Many people felt that the country needed to show to the world that those years of poverty were far back in time. A new monument should be erected that could match in magnificence and size the economic situation that Argentina had achieved at the dawn of the new century.

In 1907 a competition was announced, and a year later 74 maquettes were shown at the exposition grounds of the Sociedad Rural (Rural Society) at Palermo. Five entries would be selected, with one entry being by an Argentinean artist (a Triumphal Arch made by Rogelio Yrurtia). Some felt that only European projects should be among the winners and people like the Engineer Atanasio Iturbe, Public Works director, tried to shut down Yrurtia’s entry by saying that it did not “cover the requested requisites”.

On the other hand, Eduardo Schaffino, the director of the National Art Museum, defended Yrurtia’s work and demanded that his entry to be among the five selected. Finally, Emilio Mitre solved the problem by extending the selected winners to six: the original five Europeans plus Yrurtia’s.

In 1908, 74 maquettes were displayed at the “Rural” exposition grounds for the competition to choose the monument that would replace the May Pyramid.
AGN (Archivo General de la Nación – National General Archive)

In spite of all this back and forth, at the end, Yrurtia’s project was not selected to be the one built. But you can still see the miniature of his project at his house, now turned museum, at Belgrano neighborhood.

In 1909 the final vote was cast. There was a tie between the project by the Italians Gaetano Moretti and Luigi Brizzolara and the one by the Belgians Jules Lagae and Eugenio D’Huicque. The tie breaker was the president of the commission, Marco Avellaneda, who chose the one by the Italians.

Gaetano Moretti and Luis Brizzolara: the minds behind the winning project.
Source:  Biblioteca Nacional de España – Spain National Library

From the very beginning the duo got a taste of what was about come. Problems would plague the whole project. The Centennial Commission, who was the governing body behind the monument’s administration, had reserved the right to introduce changes at any time they see fit. These changes were many, and were some of the main causes of the many delays. For example, one request was to change the statues from marble to bronze. The Commission, also, could not decide if they wanted to use local materials or import them. All this made the artist’s work extremely difficult.

Luiz Brizzolara and Cayetano Moretti portrayed in 1909 with their monument in Caras y Caretas magazine.
Source:  Biblioteca Nacional de España – Spain National Library

Another significant change was the fate of the May Pyramid. The original project had assumed that the old monument would be knocked down, but the Commission got cold feet around this issue and backed down. It seemed that the Pyramid had won the hearts and minds of the Argentineans and the idea of demolishing this venerable monument did not sit well with public opinion. Although the monument had been modified in 1857, some of it was still the original from 1811 and its symbolism was too strong.

The only way to proceed was to find a way to keep the Pyramid and built a new monument. The solution: the new monument would be built but it was going to contain the Pyramid in a chamber. This change meant that the whole project had to be redesign increasing the size to make room for the chamber.

Another problem was that the new monument would sit at the center of the Plaza de Mayo, but the Pyramid was not at the center, it was built 40 meters away (when the Plaza de Mayo was smaller). This meant that the whole Pyramid had to be moved to a new location. This added another layer of complexity to the project.

By the end of 1910 everything was ready to start the work, but the Commission was still debating which material they wanted to use for the monument and any progress stalled until 1912. Only then the foundations were laid and it was possible to start working in the moving of the Pyramid to the needed location.