Equestrian statue of Bernardo de Gálvez

Bernardo de Gálvez is a bronze equestrian statue of Bernardo de Gálvez, 1st Viscount of Galveston, sculpted by Juan de Ávalos of Spain.

Description and history


Located in the American national capital of Washington, D.C., it was dedicated on June 3, 1976, one month and a day before Independence Day of the Fourth of July, 1776. The statue was a gift from Spain to the United States upon the occasion of the U.S.A.'s Bicentennial (1776–1976) commemoration, 200 years later after the American Revolution and subsequent American Revolutionary War (1776–1783).

The Bernardo de Gálvez sculpture is located along with the Statues of the Liberators, at Virginia Avenue and 22nd Street, N.W., near the United States Department of State building in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood in Washington, D.C. It was dedicated by King Juan Carlos I of the Kingdom of Spain

The inscription on the base reads:

(Front:) BERNARDO DE GALVEZ (COUNT DE GALVEZ) 1746–1786

(Side:) BERNARDO DE GALVEZ THE GREAT SPANISH SOLDIER CARRIED OUT A COURAGEOUS CAMPAIGN IN LANDS BORDERING THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI. THIS MASTERPIECE OF MILITARY STRATEGY LIGHTENED THE PRESSURE OF THE ENGLISH IN THE WAR AGAINST THE AMERICAN SETTLERS WHO WERE FIGHTING FOR THEIR INDEPENDENCE. MAY THE STATUE OF BERNARDO DE GALVEZ SERVE AS A REMINDER THAT SPAIN OFFERED THE BLOOD OF HER SOLDIERS FOR THE CAUSE OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE. Excerpts of a speech given on this location on June 3, 1976 by His Majesty DON JUAN CARLOS I King of Spain

Sculptor Juan de Ávalos Madrid, Spain