''Simon Bolivar'', also known as ''General Bolivar'', is a bronze

equestrian statue An equestrian statue is a statue of a rider mounted on a horse, from the Latin ''eques'', meaning 'knight', deriving from ''equus'', meaning 'horse'. A statue of a riderless horse is strictly an equine statue. A full-sized equestrian statue is a ...

Simón Bolívar Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24July 178317December 1830) was a Venezuelan statesman and military officer who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, and Bol ...

by Adamo Tadolini. There are three casts. The original is located in the Plaza Bolívar in Lima, the first copy is in the Plaza Bolívar in Caracas and the second copy is in United Nations Plaza in San Francisco, California. The statue in Lima, which was made in Italy in the 1850s, is the oldest of the three. It was cast in Munich and the replica in Caracas was cast by the same foundry after the sculptor's death. The copy in San Francisco was engineered by Miriam Gandica Mora, cast by Victor Hugo Barrenchea-Villegas and dedicated in December 1984.

Description

Adamo Tadolini's sculpture depicts Simón Bolívar atop his rearing horse. Bolívar is dressed in military attire, including a decorated coat and a flowing cape. Other accessories include tall boots, epaulets and a sash. He has a sheathed sword over his left thigh, and he holds his hat on the right side of his body. Tadolini was the pupil of the sculptor Canova, and is usually seen as working in the same neoclassical tradition. It has been suggested that the Bolívar statue was inspired by

Jacques Louis David Jacques-Louis David (; 30 August 1748 – 29 December 1825) was a French painter in the Neoclassical style, considered to be the preeminent painter of the era. In the 1780s, his cerebral brand of history painting marked a change in taste away f ...

's famous painting of

Napoleon Crossing the Alps ''Napoleon Crossing the Alps'' (also known as ''Napoleon at the Saint-Bernard Pass'' or ''Bonaparte Crossing the Alps''; listed as ''Le Premier Consul franchissant les Alpes au col du Grand Saint-Bernard'') is a series of five oil on canvas eq ...

. One problem Tadolini had to face, unlike the painter, was of

statics Statics is the branch of classical mechanics that is concerned with the analysis of force and torque acting on a physical system that does not experience an acceleration, but rather is in mechanical equilibrium, equilibrium with its environment ...

: representing the horse with raised legs could cause stability problems due to the excessive weight of the bronze being supported by two legs and a tail. The ''

Bronze Horseman The ''Bronze Horseman'' (, literally "copper horseman") is an equestrian statue of Peter I of Russia, Peter the Great in the Senate Square (Saint Petersburg), Senate Square in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It was opened to the public on 7 (18) Augu ...

'' by

Étienne Maurice Falconet Étienne Maurice Falconet (1 December 1716 – 24 January 1791) was a French baroque, rococo and Neoclassical sculpture, neoclassical sculptor, best-known for his equestrian statue of Peter the Great, the ''Bronze Horseman'' (1782), in St. Pet ...

, which overcomes a similar problem, can also be seen as a forerunner of Tadolini's statue.

Locations

Lima

The statue was sculpted in Rome and cast in Munich. The pedestal was completed in marble in Rome.

Caracas

On 7 November 1874, the statue was inaugurated in the center of the Plaza Bolívar with the ringing of bells and a 21 gun salute. The Venezuelan president at the time,

Antonio Guzmán Blanco Antonio Leocadio Guzmán Blanco (28 February 1829 – 28 July 1899) was a Venezuelan military leader, statesman, diplomat and politician. He was the president of Venezuela for , from 1870 until 1877, from 1879 until 1884, and from 1886 until 1 ...

, was an admirer of Bolívar. Among other measures he purchased Bolívar's birthplace (near the location of the statue) and adopted the bolívar, defined on the silver standard, as the country's currency.

San Francisco

The San Francisco copy was engineered by Miriam Gandica Mora and cast by Victor Hugo Barrenchea-Villegas. It was dedicated on 6 December 1984. Located at United Nations Plaza at the intersection of Hyde Street and Fulton Street, the sculpture is administered by the City and County of San Francisco and the

San Francisco Arts Commission The San Francisco Arts Commission (SFAC) is the City agency that champions the arts as essential to daily life by investing in a vibrant arts community, enlivening the urban environment and shaping innovative cultural policy in San Francisco, Cal ...

. The statue was surveyed by the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

Save Outdoor Sculpture! Save Outdoor Sculpture! (SOS!) was a community-based effort to identify, document, and conserve outdoor sculpture in the United States. The program was initiated in 1989 and ended in 1999. History Save Outdoor Sculpture! was initiated by Heri ...

program in 1992.

Image gallery

File:Jacques Louis David - Bonaparte franchissant le Grand Saint-Bernard, 20 mai 1800 - Google Art Project.jpg, ''

Napoleon at the Saint-Bernard Pass ''Napoleon Crossing the Alps'' (also known as ''Napoleon at the Saint-Bernard Pass'' or ''Bonaparte Crossing the Alps''; listed as ''Le Premier Consul franchissant les Alpes au col du Grand Saint-Bernard'') is a series of five oil on canvas eq ...

'' (1801). This painting, which exists in several versions, was a possible source of inspiration for Tadolini. File:Plazabolivar.jpg, Plaza Bolívar, Lima, with the Our Lady of Charity church in the 1800s File:Plaza Bolívar de Caracas 1904.jpg, Plaza Bolívar, Caracas File:EstatuaDelLibertadorEnLaPlazaBolivar2004-6.jpg, Caracas version of the statue File:Statue of Guzmán Blanco.jpg, Equestrian statue by

Joseph A. Bailly Joseph Alexis Bailly (January 21, 1823 or 1825 – June 15, 1883) was an American sculptor who spent most of his career in Philadelphia. He taught briefly at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, which has a collection of his sculpture. His ...

of Guzmán Blanco, under whose presidency the Bolívar statue was erected in Caracas File:Simon Bolivar statue in San Francisco.png, Statue of Simon Bolivar at UN Plaza, San Francisco

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Simon Bolivar (Tadolini) 1984 establishments in California 1984 sculptures Bronze sculptures in California Bronze sculptures in Venezuela Civic Center, San Francisco Equestrian statues in California Equestrian statues in Peru Equestrian statues in Venezuela Outdoor sculptures in Peru Outdoor sculptures in San Francisco Outdoor sculptures in Venezuela Statues in Peru Statues in San Francisco Statues of Simón Bolívar Sculptures of men in Peru