La Lechuga

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La Lechuga (German: the salad) is a monstrance created by José de Galaz between 1700 and 1707. It was made for the church of San Ignacio in Bogotá , but paid for by Jesuits who wanted to hide the gemstones from the Spanish crown. The monstrance is currently owned by the Banco de la República .

creation

It is believed that La Lechuga was commissioned by a group of Jesuits to hide the gemstones from the Spanish Crown because of the Kingdom of Granada . They commissioned the Spaniard José de Galaz, who with the help of two other goldsmiths created the monstrance within seven years for the price of 1,100 Spanish reals (100,000 USD today). When it was completed on July 16, 1707, de Galaz estimated the price at 20,000 Spanish reals ($ 2,000,000 USD).

The name La Lechuga, which means “the salad” in English, comes from the large number of emeralds that give the monstrance a green color.

history

The monstrance was owned by the Church of San Ignacio until 1767, when King Charles III. from Spain ordered all Spanish possessions to be returned to Spain. To prevent La Lechuga from falling into the possession of the Spanish Kingdom, it was kept hidden by the Jesuits. Little is known about the time thereafter. It remained hidden until 1985 when Colombia's central bank, Banco de la República, acquired it for $ 3,500,000 USD. Nowadays the monstrance is exhibited in the Colección de Arte del Banco de la Republica in Bogotá.

description

The figure is 80 cm tall and weighs a total of 8850.3 grams.

Like a typical monstrance, La Lechuga also consists of a disc crowned with a cross, which serves as a frame for the host . The disc is held up by an angel who stands on the top of the elaborately worked trunk.

The frame of the host is an extremely elaborate circular shape that represents the sun with the rays emanating from it. The host itself is framed by pearls, which in turn are framed by spikes of gold and four rows of mostly square-cut emeralds. A dense garland of green enamelled vine leaves and grapes made of amethysts adorn 20 wave-shaped rays, each with a pearl at the tip. Between them, 22 straight rays end in a sun shaped from emeralds and gold. A cross of emeralds sits above everything.

The frame is carried by an angel figure resembling an atlas in a tunic made of sky-blue and green enamel and golden caliga . Directly above the head there is a yellow sapphire framed by emeralds and gold on the front, and a square cut, high quality amethyst on the back.

The trunk, which serves as a handle, is made of gold in the shape of a fountain. The rivers of the fountain consist of emeralds that flow down to the amethyst-studded, eight-footed stand. The base itself is adorned with grape tendrils and animal figures.

exhibition

The monstrance was first shown between March 3, 2015 and May 31, 2015 in the Museo del Prado in Madrid outside of Colombia .

As part of the Franco-Colombian Year, La Lechuga was exhibited in the Louvre in Paris next to a statue of Saint Barbara by Pedro Laboria between September 20, 2017 and January 15, 2018 .

Gemstones

The monstrance itself consists of almost five kilograms of 18- carat gold from Antioquia , Chocó and Cauca and a total of 1759 precious stones of the highest quality.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 'La Lechuga' va al Prado | banrepcultural.org. Retrieved October 13, 2017 (Spanish).
  2. ↑ a b Casa Editorial El Tiempo: LA RARA HISTORIA DE LA LECHUGA. Retrieved October 13, 2017 (es-CO).
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g La Lechuga. Retrieved October 13, 2017 .
  4. ↑ La obra invitada: Custodia de la Iglesia de San Ignacio de Bogotá - Exposición - Museo Nacional del Prado. Retrieved October 13, 2017 .
  5. ↑ Année France-Colombie 2017Deux chefs-d'oeuvre de l'art baroque de Bogotá au Louvre | Louvre . In: Louvre . August 25, 2017 ( louvre.fr [accessed October 13, 2017]).