José de Galaz. The Lettuce

On display at the Museo del Prado until 31 May (Room 18A) is the monstrance from the church of San Ignacio in Bogotá, an object known as “The Lettuce” in reference to the green of its 1,485 emeralds, and a remarkable example of Baroque art in a land of goldsmiths. Now exhibited for the first time outside Colombia, “The Lettuce”, which was made by the goldsmith José de Galaz between 1700 and 1707, is considered one of the most beautiful and ornate liturgical items in South America.

“The Lettuce” is part of the Collection of the Banco de la República de Colombia. It has been loaned within the Prado’s “Invited Work” programme, sponsored by the Fundación Amigos del Museo del Prado since 2010.

President Santos of Colombia will be visiting the Museum tomorrow, accompanied by the President of the Spanish government, Mariano Rajoy, and the Minister of Culture, Education and Sport, Ignacio Wert. Their tour of the Museum will include a particular focus on the display of this monstrance from the church of San Ignacio in Bogotá.

This exceptional object, the first piece of goldsmith’s work to be included in the Prado’s “Invited Work” programme, will remain on display until 31 May in Room 18A of the Villanueva Building. This gallery displays works by Claudio Coello, Herrera the Younger and Antolínez, who created dynamic, colourful and dramatic compositions in which, as with “The Lettuce”, ornamentation, colour and splendour were used in the service of the Catholic liturgy.

The monstrance from the church of San Ignacio in Bogotá is the subject of the sixth edition of “The Invited Work” programme, sponsored by the Fundación Amigos del Museo del Prado. It follows the loans of The Virgin and Child with Angels by Jean Fouquet (1452) from the Royal Fine Arts Museum in Antwerp in 2014; Portrait of a Man (ca.1635) by Velázquez from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, in 2012; Acrobat on a Ball (1905) by Picasso from the Pushkin Museum in Moscow in 2011; Caravaggio’s Descent from the Cross from the Vatican Museums in 2011; and The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit by John Singer Sargent from the Boston Museum of Fine Arts in 2010.

The work

“The Lettuce” is a masterpiece of Baroque art, made in 18 carat gold in Nueva Granada by the goldsmith José de Galaz between 1700 and 1707. Featuring 1,485 emeralds, 1 sapphire, 13 rubies, 28 diamonds, 62 Baroque pearls and 168 amethysts, the monstrance is not only one of the most beautiful and elaborate liturgical items made in South America but also an example of Baroque goldsmiths’ work made in this land of goldsmiths and the way in which that style found new expressions in a region where gold and emeralds were in abundant supply and in which the indigenous culture of South America’s leading goldsmiths was still alive and flourishing.

The upper part of the monstrance has a sun decorated with 22 larger, undulating rays which terminate in small suns decorated with emeralds and 20 smaller rays terminating in Baroque pearls. At the top of the sun is a cross with emeralds, while surrounding the sun is a decoration of vine leaves and small bunches of grapes symbolising Christ and the Eucharist. This is the most important part of the monstrance as it was the part that housed the Host – in a glass-covered compartment also edged with pearls and 63 rays - which was displayed to the faithful.

The middle section has the figure of an angel with its wings outstretched and its arms raised, holding up the sun. An image of this type is characteristic of the Society of Jesus, which commissioned the monstrance and used depictions of angels as the banner for their evangelising mission in South America. The Jesuits interpreted the image of the angel as a fundamental part of the army of God in the heavens, identifying themselves with the angelic cult through their conception of themselves as members of the spiritual army in the service of Christ on earth. Below the angel are two Baroque bosses which the priest would have used to grasp the monstrance it in order to hold it up and display it to the faithful. Finally, the monstrance stands on an eight-lobed base. Galaz completed his work with a decoration of acanthus leaves and more vine leaves and grapes, while the base also features various zoomorphic figures and interlaced cherubim that hold up the monstrance.

The monstrance of the church of San Ignacio in Bogotá is undoubtedly one of the greatest examples of the so called “major” monstrances and a gem of goldsmith’s work in the kingdom of Nueva Granada, giving rise to numerous legends. It is particularly impressive that “The Lettuce” has survived intact to the present day, given that during the Independence period in South America many religious objects were decommissioned and melted down in order to fund the activities of the two sides, the “realistas” and “patriotas”. Protected by the Jesuit priests, this monstrance survived the expulsion of the Order from the Spanish realms ordered by Charles III in 1767, the second expulsion dictated by José Hilario López in 1850 and the third by Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera in 1861. It is said that the monstrance remained hidden during all this period and that it never left the country despite the expulsion of the Order. It was only in the late 19th century when the Jesuits’ property was returned to them that the monstrance reappeared in the church of San Ignacio in Bogotá, where it was used for special ceremonies and occasionally placed on public display.

In 1985, the Banco de la República de Colombia purchased the monstrance directly from the Jesuits, who had previously requested permission to sell it from the Vatican. Since then it has been a key work in the Bank’s art collection and is on permanent, free display in the Museo de Arte of the Banco de la República in Bogotá as an outstanding example of viceregal art.

The Baroque in a land of goldsmiths

In the area corresponding to modern-day Colombia, metals such as gold and silver were known, exploited and worked by the different indigenous communities. The production of functional and ceremonial objects, including pectoral crosses, tiaras, jewels and votive figures, many of them encrusted with precious stones such as emeralds, reveals the extremely high quality of indigenous goldsmithing and the knowledge of different casting, soldering and alloying techniques, as well as the deployment of repoussé, hammering and metal casting with the lost wax process. The use of these precious metals was related to the indigenous communities’ religious practices, which attracted the interest of the Spanish conquistadors from the time of the first encounters.

While the indigenous peoples had an important tradition of goldsmith’s work, as revealed in the magnificent objects that have survived to the present day and which demonstrate the quality of Pre-Hispanic work made by communities living in the area of modern-day Colombia, it is known that from the start of the Spanish colonisation of Nueva Granada they were no longer allowed to work with precious stones and metals as the Spanish imposed rigorous controls over indigenous workers. However, in regions such as present-day Bolivia this control was less strict and the names of various goldsmiths of indigenous origin are known.

From the outset, the conquest of South America was motivated by the quest for precious metals and the desire to acquire status and power. Large mines were discovered in the Nuevo Reino de Granada, which began to be exploited in the 16th century. Aware from the outset of the abundance of precious metals in South America, the Spanish Crown passed various laws and established institutions in order to control its supply. In 1504 the “quinto real” tax was introduced, through which the monarchy received 20% of the gold and silver mined. However, this rule was often overlooked and the majority of those who discovered gold and silver did not hand over this fifth part in order not to reduce their profits. A large amount of metal left Nueva Granada for Spain: gold from the mines at Antioquia, Chocó and Cauca, gold found in rivers and even ingots made from melted down indigenous objects.

Another key institution for the control of precious metals in the New World was the Mints, which had the principal function of producing gold and silver coins. The Mint in Santafé, for example, was founded in 1621 and as a result of the large gold reserves found in the region of Antioquia, was the first in South America to produce gold coins. The Spanish Crown also set out to control the handling of metals through the silversmiths’ guild. News rapidly spread when deposits of gold, silver and precious stones were discovered, attracting numerous expert craftsmen to South America. The silversmiths’ guild was soon founded and workshops with masters, assistants and apprentices were established, producing large numbers of objects that combined Spanish and South American stylistic tendencies.

While the high quality of the Pre-Hispanic indigenous communities’ work in modern-day Colombia is known, it is unlikely that they worked in silversmiths’ workshops as it was forbidden to hire indigenous people, despite the fact that they were employed as workers in the gold mines and in the extraction of gold from rivers. They may have worked as apprentices, carrying out the humblest tasks, but never occupied the principal role of head of a workshop.

The craft of silversmithing

In the present day, the term “silversmith” is used to refer to a craftsman who works exclusively in silver. However, between the 16th and 18th centuries in Nueva Granada it was used to refer to craftsmen working in both gold and silver. From archival documentation we also know that the term “oribe” was used to describe craftsmen who specifically focused on jewellery making.

Silversmithing was one of the most important trades in colonial society and its status was a reflection of the quality and value of the materials that were used in it. Silversmiths’ confraternities were founded that were notable for the richness and ostentation of their processions and celebrations in honour of their patron saint, Eligius. Even the physical space that they occupied in the city was singled out with the distinction of its own name: calle de los Plateros [Silversmiths’ Street], a name still to be found in many South American cities today.

While silversmiths in Nueva Granada were always highly skilled technically, in the 18th century they were particularly known for important works made in gold and silver and for the region’s cultural ascendance after it became a viceroyalty when the demand for luxury items increased. The principal clients were the religious houses and wealthy Spaniards who expressed and displayed their status and influence through gold and silver objects. Silversmiths essentially worked on two types of commissions: religious objects and functional ones. In general, their creations were supposed to be marked with the year of their production and the name of the designer, the marks of the “quinto real” tax, the name of the city and the name of the craftsman who made the object. However, many objects were not correctly marked which, in the present day, has made it more difficult to identify and date them and determine their place of origin.