Crown of the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, May 2018

Crown of the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception, known as the Crown of the Andes

Date: Ca. 1660 (diadem) and ca. 1770 (arches)

Geography: Made in Colombia

Culture: Colombian; Popayán

Medium: Gold, repoussé and chased; emeralds

Dimensions: 13 1/2 in. (34.3 cm)
Body diameter: 13 1/4 in. (33.7 cm)

Classification: Gold

Credit Line: Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace Gift, Acquisitions Fund and Mary Trumbull Adams Fund, 2015

Accession Number: 2015.437


This imperial gold crown, worked in repoussé and set with nearly 450 emeralds, was made to adorn a sculpture of the Virgin Mary venerated in Popayán, Colombia. A symbol of the Virgin's divine rulership, the crown is surmounted by four arches topped by a cross-bearing orb that symbolizes Christ's dominion over the world. The crown's diadem, an openwork band of foliate scrolls, is embellished with emeralds mounted in the form of flowers, a reference to the Virgin's purity. This combination of gold and emeralds also reflects the aesthetic preferences of Precolumbian cultures of Colombia and Panama.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/21698