The Crossing of the Andes

What it is

This is an 1890 painting by Augusto Ballerini, titled El paso de los Andes. It shows a mountain pass in soft golden light. On the right, mounted soldiers in blue and red uniforms ride along a rocky slope, led by a figure in a dark coat and hat on a pale horse. On the left, a column of troops and pack animals winds through a valley below. The painting is a later depiction, not an eyewitness record.

Why it matters

The painting commemorates the crossing of the Andes led by José de San Martín, the army campaign that helped support independence for Chile and Peru. Because Ballerini painted it in 1890, about forty years after San Martín's death in 1850, it shows how later generations chose to remember the campaign as a heroic journey.

Look closer

• Who is placed at the front of the group, and how does the painter make that person stand out?
• What does the painting suggest about the landscape and the difficulty of the crossing?
• What might a painter in 1890 have wanted viewers to feel about this event, and what details of the march might be left out?