Enrique Lister gained renown during his lifetime as the commander of the Spanish Fifth Army Corps, loyalist soldiers who repeatedly resisted the Fascists. Davidson loved Spain and the Spanish people, and when the country was in turmoil during the Civil War he determined to record the faces of resistance leaders. On a visit to the country in 1938 he modeled a bust of Lister and two other military figures, all of whom were heroes of the recent Ebro Front campaign. He captured Lister’s peasant heritage and forceful character by emphasizing the Spaniard’s large, round head and strongly set jaw.