Francisco de Miranda springs into action!

That swirling cape… those boots… those tall britches! Francisco de Miranda sweeps forward with such zeal, I can only presume he’s been besmirched in some way or another. Sir, he demands satisfaction.

Francisco de Miranda was born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela, in the 1750’s-60’s. He fought in the American Revolution, leading Spanish troops against the English in Florida and Mississippi. He met with most of the Founding Fathers, moved to London, married an English lady, and had two kids. Then in 1791, be became a general in the French Revolution and got his name engraved on the Arc de Triomphe. Unfortunately, he just couldn’t get enough revolution, and it was his third one that got him in trouble. He fought against the Spanish alongside Simon Bolivar in the Venezuelan War for Independence. When Miranda signed an armistice, Bolivar accused him of treason and turned him over to the Spanish Royal Army. Marinda spent four years in a Spanish prison and died in captivity. Within fourteen years, most of Spanish America was independent.

I guess as the years went by, the Venezuelan perspective on Miranda shifted, at least from Bolivar’s. In 1977 the Venezuelan government donated this statue to the City of Philadelphia.

There’s a statue of Miranda in London, also, but there he holds a parchment. Somehow, the sword seems more appropriate.

Sculptor: Lorenzo Gonzalez
Dedicated: 1977
Location: Winter St & Ben Franklin Parkway (just North of Franklin Institute)