Accession Number

1986.008.0035a

Creation Date

circa 1600

Description

A small bronze figurine from the wreck of the 1622 galleon Santa Margarita depicts the Madonna and Child. The piece was badly worn by the action of sand and sea during its long submersion, giving the figures a ghostly appearance. Pins on the back of the figurine once held an aura or halo that emphasized the holiness of Mary and Jesus, fragments of which survive. The piece is 6.0 centimeters tall.

Exhibition Label

Case Caption (2023):

RELIGIOUS DEVOTIONS

Spain’s empire was won by conquest and the Spanish believed that their laws, leaders, and the Roman Catholic religion were superior to Indigenous customs, rulers, and spiritual practices.

Priests came to provide emigrants with spiritual support but also to convert Indigenous people. They hastened conversions by asserting that Jesus and the Virgin Mary were bigger, better manifestations of local gods. The Virgin Mary was quickly identified with Pachamama, the goddess of the earth. In 1532, the church that became Lima Cathedral was built on top of a major shrine to Inti, the Inca sun god and the palace of an Inca prince. The Spanish used this suppressive strategy successfully throughout their colonies.
Object Caption (2023):

Statuette of the Virgin Mary
Bronze (c.1600)
Gift of Jamestown Inc.
1986.008.0035a-d
Previous Case Caption: Removed 2022 Madonna This bronze figure was recovered from the Santa Margarita. It represents the Virgin Mary inside a halo. This symbol has been used to suggest the interactions and interdependence of opposing forces, such as heaven and earth. During the medieval period, it came to symbolize the attributes of someone who ascended into Heaven such as Jesus or Mary, rather than merely died.