Liberador: General Jose de San Martin, (sculpture).

Liberador: General Jose de San Martin, (sculpture).

Dumont, Augustin-Alexandre, 1801-1884, sculptor. (copy after)

Donovan, Thurman D., architect.

Balderson, Andrew H., landscape architect.

Donovan, Feola, Balderson and Associates, architectural firm.

Jolles Construction Company, contractor.

Liberador: General Jose de San Martin, (sculpture).

General Jose de San Martin, (sculpture).

Original 1862. Dedicated October 28, 1925. Rededicated October 6, 1976.

Sculpture: bronze; Base: concrete.

(Base, front:) LIBERTADOR/GENERAL JOSE de SAN MARTIN

Figure of Jose de San Martin dressed in his military uniform astride a rearing horse. His proper right arm is raised and his index finger points into the distance. The sculpture is installed on a tall rectangular base set on a round platform which rests in the middle of a plaza lined with stone benches. A time capsule containing information about the sculpture is buried in a vault in front of the base.

Portrait male -- San Martin, Jose de -- Full length

Occupation -- Military -- General

Ethnic -- Argentine

Dress -- Uniform -- Military Uniform

Outdoor Sculpture -- District of Columbia -- Washington

Located Virginia Avenue between 20th & 21st Street, N.W., Washington, District of Columbia

Jose de San Martin (1778-1850) was the son of an aristocratic Spanish official born in South America during Spanish domination. Although he studied in Spain and achieved military rank after taking part in the Spanish resistance against invading Napoleonic forces, he returned to Argentina in 1812 to help the revolutionary government during the movement for independence from Spain. He first liberated Chile and then moved across the Andes into Peru and took possession of Lima. Later, he returned to Buenos Aires and resigned his command before exiling himself to Europe.

This sculpture is a copy by an unknown artist of Augustin-Alexandre Dumont's 1862 equestrian portrait of General Jose de San Martin located at La Plaza del Marte in Buenos Aires, Argentina. This copy was authorized by Congress on June 7, 1924 and was presented to the United States by Argentina in 1924. It was originally installed in 1925 at Judiciary Square on a base made of polished granite from Argentina and placed on brick and sand from San Lorenzo. During construction of the subway Metro station at Judiciary Square, the sculpture was removed and was later relocated to a newly constructed site. The hard cover edition of the Goode publication contains an image of the sculpture and its granite block base in the original location at Judiciary Square.

IAS files contain an excerpt from Jannelle Warren-Findley's Aug. 1, 1985 report for the National Park Service entitled, "A Guide to Selected Statues, Monuments and Memorials," National Capital Parks - Central, National Park Service, Washington, D.C. (RFQ 3-4-1919) which includes a brief maintenance history, a list of bibliographic sources, and notes to additional information found in National Park Service files.

The park service report also details the delay in reinstallation of the sculpture caused by concerns over funding for the construction of a new site and base, and whether plans drawn up for the new site by Argentine architect, Alberto Gally Cantilo, could be funded. During this delay, the sculpture ended up in storage with the contracting firm, Roubin and Janeiro who had removed the sculpture from Judiciary Square. In 1973, architect Thurman D. Donovan was retained by the Argentine government and Andrew H. Balderson became the project's landscape architect. Jolles Construction was selected as the contracting firm for the new site. The Park Service report confirms that the sculpture medium is Argentine copper although the Goode publication notes that the medium is bronze. Also, the Park Service report notes that one source indicates the sculpture is a replica of a piece by French sculptor, Louis Joseph Daumas (1801-1887).

Save Outdoor Sculpture, District of Columbia survey, 1993.

Goode, James M., "The Outdoor Sculpture of Washington, D.C., A Comprehensive Historical Guide," Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1974, pg. 536-537 (hard cover edition).

Michael Richman, SAAM curatorial assistant, 1967-1969.

Goode, James M., "The Outdoor Sculpture of Washington, D.C., A Comprehensive Historical Guide," Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1974, pg. 537 (hard cover edition).

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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