Bust of Jose Ignacio Paris

José Ignacio París, was a businessman, philanthropist and independence hero, who played a central role in the set of private and public initiatives that contributed to the preservation of the memory of Simón Bolívar and his exaltation as a hero of Colombia.

In 1846 he donated the first known sculpture of the Liberator, this was made in Europe by Pietro Tenerani
and is located in the current Plaza de Bolivar in Bogota. This artist also made this marble bust of José
Ignacio Paris that possibly belonged to the household goods of his private home.
In 1922, with the purpose of maintaining Bolivar's legacy in time, the intervention of the Quinta was carried out to give place to the Bolivarian museum.

In 1930, on the occasion of the centenary of the death of the Liberator, commemorative plaques were placed at the exit of the Quinta as part of the public tributes to Simón Bolivar. Messages of popular recognition, gratitude and consecration of Bolivar as a historical figure of consensus in the Colombian-Venezuelan diplomatic relations can be read there.

The monumental works commissioned by José Ignacio París, and the historical plaques located on the walls of the Museum, show how the relationship between art and politics were part of a model for the construction of heroes and republican leaders, as symbols of nationhood and civic virtues arising
from the independence movements.