View of Orreaga sculpture from outside Jon Bilbao Basque Library

This collection documents the installation of Orreaga sculpture at the Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center at the University of Nevada, Reno. The sculpture occupies wall space just outside of the Knowledge Center's 2nd Floor Rotunda. Orreaga by Nestor Basterretxea is a wooden sculpture representing one of the most significant events in Basque and European history: the attack of the Basques on Charlemagne's army as it passed through the Pyrenees. Orreaga is the name of the Pyrenees summit where the commander of Charlemagne's troops, Commander Rolan, was killed. The U-shaped base of the sculpture depicts the canyon where Charlemagne's troops were ambushed and trapped. The lower discoid represents the doomed army itself, while the upthrust forms superimposed upon it signify the chaotic cries of the dying men. The suspended discoid is both the ascending Basques and the bird of death descending upon its victims.