Vargas Swamp Lancers

Vargas Swamp Lancers

Monumento a los Lanceros
Artist	Rodrigo Arenas Betancourt Ing. Guillermo Gonzalez Zuleta
Year	1970 (1970)
Type	sculpture
Location	Boyacá, Colombia

Vargas Swamp Lancers, or Monument to the Lancers (Spanish: Monumento a los Lanceros), is a large sculptural complex realized by Colombian artist Rodrigo Arenas Betancourt in the department of Boyacá (Colombia) as a memorial for Vargas Swamp Battle. It is the largest monument in Colombia.

This monument depicts the attack of the 14 lancers commanded by Colonel Juan José Rondón. It is 33 m high and was dedicated in the 150th anniversary of the Colombian Declaration of Independence (1970).

The Lancers

In July 1819, while marching against Santafé, the army of Simón Bolívar, exhausted after passing across the Pisba paramount, faced the Spanish army commanded by José María Barreiro.

Although the location was better for the Spanish, and Bolívar's army faced bad odds, the attack of the 14 lancers, armed only with lances, was decisive in the winning of the battle...

The monument

The monument of Arenas Betancourt and colombian engineer Guillermo Gonzalez Zuleta, is a bronze sculpture, depicting the 14 soldiers and their horses, suspended in the air and framed in a concrete structure.

References

• http://www.colarte.com/.../A/ArenasRodrigo/recuento.htm?nomartista=Rodrigo+Arenas++Betancourt&idartista=1207
• http://www.todacolombia.com/pantanodevargas.html