Estátua do Laçador, Bronze monument in Porto Alegre, Brazil

The Laçador is a 4.45-metre bronze figure of a gaucho in traditional pilcha dress, standing on a trapezoidal granite pedestal 2.10 metres high. His right hand holds a bundle of dangling cords, his left a short horizontal handle on a vertical rod. The statue stands on a raised mound at the Sítio do Laçador, a 4,000-square-metre site divided into six areas in the colours of Rio Grande do Sul.

Sculptor Antonio Caringi shaped the sculpture for an exhibition in São Paulo in 1954 and used a folklorist as a model. The city of Porto Alegre later declared the figure its official landmark.

The figure shows a cattle herder from Rio Grande do Sul wearing the clothing and tools of southern Brazil's rural traditions. The representation today serves as a landmark of regional identity and is often used as a meeting point.

The sculpture is located near the airport and is easy to reach when leaving or entering the city from that side. The site is freely accessible during daytime and can be visited during a short stop.

The statue's model was Paixão Côrtes, a 26-year-old folklorist who posed in his own collection of gaucho dress. Caringi's plaster winning entry was made for São Paulo's 1954 exhibition, but a popular campaign kept the bronze in Porto Alegre. The figure also appears on the cover of Engenheiros do Hawaii's album Minuano.