LOS LOBOS DE LOYOLA

Chronologically and historically, the first site in Loyola University Chicago’s Jesuit Heritage tour is the statue of “Los Lobos de Loyola” (“The Wolves of Loyola”). This sculpture is one of three cast by Mexican artist Francisco Cárdenas Martínez (born 1956), also known as Pancho Cárdenas. In 2002, the first 8 x 16 ft bronze statue was placed at the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City, a Jesuit institution. In 2011, a second statue was installed at the (Jesuit) University of San Francisco. In the following year, 2012, the third statue—commissioned by Loyola Chicago—was unveiled on Wolf and Kettle Day in an event teased by cryptic signage: “The Wolves are Unleashed – March 12, 4:00 P.M.” In his remarks for the dedication ceremony—available for viewing here—Fr. President Michael J. Garanzini, S.J. explained the statue’s origins. He had seen the original one in Mexico City, contacted the artist, and asked whether he still had the cast. When Cárdenas Martínez replied that he still had the cast, Garanzini commissioned a third rendering for Loyola Chicago.

 

The Cárdenas Martínez statue (2012) is a contemporary rendering of the Loyola family’s “Wolves and Kettle” coat of arms from the 1400s. That image is still found today at the Sanctuary of Loyola (Spanish: Santuario de Loyola; Basque: Loiolako Santutegiaor Loiola), carved in stone over the entrance to the family’s manor house where St. Ignatius Loyola was born in the Basque Country. What does this somewhat mysterious image mean? One source provides a possible interpretation:

 

“The Loyola family crest includes the figures of two gray wolves on each side of a large kettle suspended by black pot hooks. The symbol is a word play, in that the wolves (lobo) combine with the kettle (olla) in Spanish to form ‘lobo y olla’ (the wolf and the pot), which was ‘contracted into Loyola.’ The kettle also commemorates the House of Loyola’s reputation for generosity, as, according to family lore, the family supplied their soldiers with so much food ‘that the wolves always found something in the kettle to feast on after the soldiers were supplied.’” (Source credit: USF Gleeson Library)

 

At least five centuries old, this image today features prominently on Loyola’s university logo and official seal. And in sports, since 1990, Loyola’s athletic teams’ mascot has been “LU Wolf”, a playful recognition of the wolves’ ancient association with the Loyola family extending back nearly six centuries.