El Principe in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, May 2018

Cruz del Milagro Monument 1 (El Príncipe)

Date: 1200–900 B.C.

Geography: Mexico, Veracruz

Culture: Olmec

Medium: Basalt

Dimensions: H. 50 1/4 × W. 31 1/2 × D. 30 in., 1300 lb. (1.28, 80 × 76.2 cm, 589676.132 g)

Classification: Stone-Sculpture

Credit Line: Museo de Antropología de Xalapa, Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa (Reg. 49 P.J. 4023)


Nicknamed El Príncipe (the Prince), this basalt sculpture, with its rounded face, slightly parted lips, and squinting eyes, exemplifies the naturalistic Olmec figural style. The figure assumes the posture of a ruler: seated, with the torso leaning forward and fists resting in front of crossed legs. His headdress, carved to resemble knotted leather or textile, features a rectangular plaque. Cylindrical earspools likely represent elongated jade beads. Olmec rulers valued basalt and had either massive boulders or finished artworks transported from distant quarries, probably by floating them on rafts along rivers.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/722110