Spanish American wars of independence important change in strategy after three United Provinces campaigns had been defeated in Upper Peru. San Martín's army became the nucleus of the Army of the Andes, which received crucial political and material support in 1816 when Juan Martín de Pueyrredón became Supreme Director of the United Provinces. In January 1817, San Martín was finally ready to advance against the royalists in Chile. Ignoring an injunction from the congress of the Río de la Plata not to move against Chile, San Martín together with General Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme, later Supreme Director of Chile, led the Army over the Andes in
Bernardo de Legarda Bernardo de Legarda Bernardo de Legarda (c. 1700 – 1 June 1773) was an Ecuadorian sculptor and painter who exemplified the Quito School movement. Legarda was a mestizo artist and the one who best personified the art of sculpture in the capital of Quito during his period. His first artwork dated from 1731 when he restored an image of Saint Luke in the Church of Santo Domingo, after which he was much in demand. In 1732 he was commissioned to do a sculpture of the Immaculate Conception for the Church of San Francisco. This work, which became known as the