| El Perú Libre | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Luis Montero Cáceres |
| Dimensions | 223 cm × 156 cm (88 in × 61 in) |
| Location | Legislative Palace,Lima |
El Perú Libre (The Freed Peru),[1] also known asLa Libertad (The Liberty), is anoil painting byPeruvian painterLuis Montero Cáceres, representing a masculinenational personification of thePeruvian Republic as an alternative to thePeruvian Motherland.[2] It is part of the art collection at theLegislative Palace.[1]
It was created by Montero to pay for the deal he made with theCongress of Peru that financed his artistic studies inItaly in exchange for creating works for the parliamentary artistic collection.[1]
Montero years later describes his creation in the following way:
[...] I wanted to form a picture that would characterize the freedom of my country: I painted it with the allusive figure of a young man, who through his attitudes manifested the moral and physical forces that abound in our country: this first fruit of my efforts is what I I dedicate today as a gift to the immense favors I have received.
— Montero, from a letter to Congress in 1860.[1]
The parliament allowedEl Perú Libre to be exhibited in thePalace of the Exhibition until 1881, the date of theoccupation of Lima, when theChilean Army extracted the painting to take it to the museums ofChile.[2] The writerRicardo Palma would be the first to report the theft of the painting.[1]
José Antonio de Lavalle y García located and dedicated the last years of his life to insisting that theChilean government return the painting. It was only in 1964, after his death, that Chile decided to return it through his wife Sara Garragori, who decided to hand it over again to the Congress of the Republic.[2]
The measurements of the work are 223.00 x 156.00cm. Although its permanent stay is theLegislative Palace, it also usually has casual exhibitions at theLima Art Museum.[2]