Equestrian statue of Simón Bolívar, Bronze equestrian monument at Plaza Bolívar, Lima, Peru

The equestrian statue of Simón Bolívar is a four-metre bronze figure on a three-tiered marble pedestal in Plaza Bolívar, Lima. Bolívar, in military uniform with cape, epaulettes and sash, rides a rearing horse balanced on its hind legs and tail; he holds his hat at his right side and wears a sheathed sword on his left thigh. The pedestal's side reliefs show the battles of Junín and Ayacucho, with the Peruvian coat of arms at the back.

In 1825 the Peruvian Congress ordered a monument to Bolívar and laid its first stone on this plaza, but thirty years passed before the project advanced. In 1853 Congress tasked Bartolomé Herrera, then minister in Rome, with holding a competition; the Italian Adamo Tadolini won and made the plaster model, cast by Müller at the Munich foundry, with a pedestal by the Roman Felipe Guacarini. Finished in 1858, it reached Peru in 1859 through the port of Callao.

The marble pedestal carries bas-reliefs of the Battle of Junín on the left and the Battle of Ayacucho on the right, with the coat of arms of Peru at the back. The front plaque names sculptor Adamo Tadolini, a pupil of Antonio Canova. The statue stands in the plaza that bears Bolívar's name in Lima's historic centre.

The statue stands centrally in Plaza Bolívar near government buildings and cultural institutions that form the administrative hub of Lima District. The location is easily accessible and offers a natural gathering point for exploring the surrounding area.

The statue was cast in Munich under foundry superintendent Müller, using a plaster model by Adamo Tadolini. The same Munich mould later produced the replica inaugurated in Caracas in 1874, so the Lima and Caracas statues are castings of one original model.