The exhibition ‘Blas de Lezo: the Courage of Half-man’ inaugurated in the Naval Museum

The Minister of Defense, Pedro Morenés, accompanied by the Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral General Jaime Muñoz-Delgado and the Director of the Naval Museum, Rear-Admiral José Antonio González Carrión, inaugurated the exhibition ‘Blas de Lezo; the Courage of Half-man’.

The exhibition regains the figure of this Lieutenant-General of the Spanish Navy, best known for his victory over British troops in Cartagena de Indias in 1741. With only six warships he was able to defeat Admiral Vernon’s fleet, eight times the size of the Spanish squadron. The control of this Colombian stronghold was of paramount importance to maintain the Spanish presence in America.

At 25, Blas de Lezo –nicknamed Half-man (Mediohombre)– was lame, one-eyed and one-armed as a consequence of different battle wounds. He was one of the most important strategists and commanders of the Spanish Navy and was never defeated, but died shortly after the Battle of Cartagena without the well-deserved public recognition. He was buried in an unknown place and was even disdained and scorned by King Philip V. The Spanish Navy honors the memory of this great sailor naming one of its state-of-the-arts escorts with his name, the F-100 frigate ‘Blas de Lezo’ (F-103).

The exhibition is divided into seven sections. It studies in detail the figure of this lieutenant-general of the Navy, focusing on the first half of the 18th century; the advent of the Bourbon dynasty, the War of Succession, the consequences of the Treaty of Utrecht, the defense of the overseas colonies and the strengthening of the Spanish naval shipbuilding.

The show exhibits 80 pieces from Spanish Navy heritage collections, 10 museums, archives and other Spanish institutions, a Colombian museum and two private collections. Two valuable pieces are exhibited in public for the first time in Spain: a portrait of Sebastián de Eslava from the Colonial Art Museum (Bogotá); and a portrait of Blas de Lezo from the collection of the Countess of Revilla-Gigedo.

The exhibition includes a series of charts, maps and audio-visuals showing the military architecture of Cartagena de Indias with the relief and flora of the bay in the 18th century, key features to understand the outcome of the battle. More than two years have been spent in visually reconstructing the outskirts of the city, fortresses, strongholds, coastal batteries and castles which turned the city into a model of military engineering.

The exhibition will run until January 13th 2014 Tuesday to Sunday from 10 to 19.