Francisco De Miranda - Philadelphia, PA
N 39° 57.543 W 075° 10.371
18S E 485236 N 4423226
This statue sits on a triangular patch of land across from the Fels Planetarium and the Franklin Institute. It can be seen amid a host of other famous statues of famous people as well as memorials and monuments. They are all over in this area.
Waymark Code: WM78T0
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Date Posted: 09/20/2009
Views: 7
The statue is located at 20th, Winter, and the Parkway. It was created by Lorenzo Gonzalez, in 1977 and is made of bronze. It is a standing statue. On two different sides of the socle there are two small plaques with quotes from Miranda himself and John Adams. It is part of the Parkway Tour, an unofficial name designated for this part of Philadelphia which hosts over 50 war memorials and statues of famous people.
Sebastián Francisco de Miranda y Rodríguez (Caracas, March 28, 1750 – in prison, El Arsenal de la Carraca, Cadiz, July 14, 1816), commonly known as Francisco de Miranda, was a Venezuelan revolutionary. Although his own plans for the independence of the Spanish American colonies failed, he is regarded as a forerunner of Simón Bolívar, who during the Hispanic American wars of independence successfully liberated a vast portion of South America. Miranda led a romantic and adventurous life. An idealist, he developed a visionary plan to liberate and unify all of Spanish America but his own military initiatives on behalf of an independent Spanish America failed in 1812. He was handed over to his enemies and four years later, in 1816, died in a Spanish prison. Within fourteen years of his death, however, most of Spanish America was independent. SOURCE
The following excerpts come from the Smithsonian inventory page for this statue.
Inscription
"(On lower rear edge:) L. Gonzalez (On lower front edge:) Fundida en Venezuela 1977 (On plaque on left side of base:) "There is in the world only one/nation in which you can discuss/politics outside of the tried heart/of a friend, that country is the United States" -Miranda to O'Higgins (On plaque on front of base:) Francisco de Miranda/Caracas Venezuela/1750/Cadiz, La Carrraca Prison/1816/Great Soldier of Freedom/who participated in the three greatest/political upheavals of his time: the struggle/for Independence in the United States, the/French Revolution and the emancipation/of Latin America
(On plaque on right side of base:) "Miranda knew more of the families,/parties, and connections in the United States, than any other man in them;/..he knew more of every campaign, /siege, battle, and skirmish that had /ever occurred in the whole war, than/any officer in our army, or any/statesman in our councils."/John Adams signed Founder's mark appears."
Description
"A standing portrait of Latin-American freedom fighter Francisco de Miranda with his proper right hand about to pull his sword out of its sheath. As he strides forward his cape blows around him in the wind."
Remarks
"The sculpture was a gift from the government of Venezuela.
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