This golden crown—a gift made for a statue of the Virgin Mary in Our Lady of the Assumption Church, the cathedral of Popayán in the Spanish viceroyalty of New Granada (now Colombia)—had been hidden away in a private collection until acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in December 2015.
As a means of petition or act of thanksgiving, lavish gifts were often made for statues of Mary in the Spanish colonial world. The Crown of the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception, known as the Crown of the Andes, is an unusually beautiful 17th–18th-century example of this practice.
The golden crown contains 443 bluish green emeralds for a total of 846.15 carats, including the Atahualpa Emerald of 24 carats. The crown is 13.5 inches tall with a diameter of 13.25 inches. It weighs 5.3 pounds.
This golden crown—a gift made for a statue of the Virgin Mary in Our Lady of the Assumption Church, the cathedral of Popayán in the Spanish viceroyalty of New Granada (now Colombia)—had been hidden away in a private collection until acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in December 2015.
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