Type Sculpture Artist Adamo Tadolini Year 1984 (San Francisco) Subject Simón Bolívar | Medium Bronze Media Bronze Material Bronze | |
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Location Lima, Peru (1850s); Caracas, Venezuela (1870s); San Francisco, United States of America Similar Equestrian of Simón Bolívar, Bolivar Plaza, Plaza Bolívar, Bolívar Park, Archbishop's Palace of Lima | ||
Simon Bolivar, also known as General Bolivar, is a bronze equestrian statue of Simón Bolívar by Adamo Tadolini. There are three casts which are located at the Plaza Bolívar in Lima, the Plaza Bolívar in Caracas and the United Nations Plaza in San Francisco, California.
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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's famous painting of Napoleon Crossing the Alps. One problem Tadolini had to face, unlike the painter, was of statics: 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 by Étienne Maurice Falconet, which overcomes a similar problem, can also be seen as a forerunner of Tadolini's statue.
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, 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 December 6, 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 statue was surveyed by the Smithsonian Institution's Save Outdoor Sculpture! program in 1992.