Monuments of Buenos Aires: General Jose de San Martin
The monument dedicated to General José de San MartÃn, located in Plaza San MartÃn in Retiro neighborhood, was inaugurated in 1862, being the first equestrian monument in Buenos Aires at the time. It was the work of French sculptor Louis Joseph Daumas, who designed it in the Napoleonic style (the figure of San MartÃn pointing at the road to freedom with his right arm), and it became a model for other similar monuments in squares all over the country.
This is the city´s most important monument, and, according to the protocol, all foreign dignataries visiting Buenos Aires must pay a visit and deposit a wreath at its feet.
General José de San MartÃn is the father of the Argentine Nation, who set Argentina, Chile and Peru free from the Spanish rule. The spot that nowadays the monument occupies was where the headquarters of his regiment Granaderos a Caballo (cavalry men) were found. In 1910, for the celebration of the centennial of the Argentine independence, the monument was moved from its original position, and a marble basement with allegoric groups by German sculptor Gustav Eberlein was added to the original bronze statue.
A similar monument was commissioned to the same sculptor for Santiago de Chile, that´s why both monuments are very similar. And there´s a smaller size replica of this monument in the Central Park, in New York.