El Panecillo (from Spanish ''panecillo'' small piece of bread, diminutive of ''pan'' bread) is a 200-metre-high hill of

volcanic A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plat ...

-origin, with

loess Loess (, ; from german: Löss ) is a clastic, predominantly silt-sized sediment that is formed by the accumulation of wind-blown dust. Ten percent of Earth's land area is covered by loess or similar deposits. Loess is a periglacial or aeoli ...

soil, located between southern and central

Quito Quito (; qu, Kitu), formally San Francisco de Quito, is the capital and largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its urban area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha. Quito is located in a valley on ...

. Its peak is at an elevation of 3,016 metres (9,895 ft) above sea level. The original name used by the aboriginal inhabitants of Quito was Yavirac. According to

Juan de Velasco Juan de Velasco y Pérez Petroche (1727–1792) was an 18th-century Jesuit priest, historian, and professor of philosophy and theology from the Royal Audience of Quito. He was born in Riobamba to Juan de Velasco y López de Moncayo and to Ma ...

, a

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

historian, there was a temple on top of Yavirac where the Indians worshiped the sun until it was destroyed by the Spanish

conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, ...

es. The street that leads up to El Panecillo is named after

Melchor Aymerich Melchior Aymerich (1754 in Ceuta – 1836 in Cuba) was a Spanish general and provincial administrator, serving as the last president of the Royal Audience of Quito from April until May 1822. One of the last Spanish colonial provinces to be ...

Statue

In 1975, the Spanish artist Agustín de la Herrán Matorras was commissioned by the religious order of the

Oblate In Christianity (especially in the Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican and Methodist traditions), an oblate is a person who is specifically dedicated to God or to God's service. Oblates are individuals, either laypersons or clergy, normally liv ...

s to build a 45-meter-tall stone monument of a

madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

which was assembled on a high pedestal on the top of Panecillo. Called " Virgin of El Panecillo", it is made of seven thousand pieces of aluminium. The monument was inaugurated on March 28, 1975, by the 11th

archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdio ...

of Quito, Pablo Muñoz Vega. The statue was engineered and erected by Anibal Lopez of Quito. The virgin stands on top of a globe and is stepping on a snake, which is a classic madonna

iconography Iconography, as a branch of art history, studies the identification, description and interpretation of the content of images: the subjects depicted, the particular compositions and details used to do so, and other elements that are distinct fro ...

. Less traditional are the wings. Locals claim that she is the only one in the world with wings like an angel. The monument was inspired by the famous "Virgen de Quito" (Quito's Madonna) also known as "the dancer" sculpted by

Bernardo de Legarda Bernardo de Legarda (c. 1700 – 1 June 1773) was one of the most important artists of the Quito School movement. Biography Legarda was a mestizo artist and the one who best personified the art of sculpture in the capital of Quito during hi ...

in 1734, which now decorates the main altar at the Church of St. Francis. This madonna represents a turning point of the Quito School of Art (one of the most renowned of the Americas) because it shows a virgin in movement that is practically dancing in contrast with the traditional static Madonnas that were produced during the 18th century. According to a bronze placard affixed to the monument, the woman represented by the statue is the

Woman of the Apocalypse The Woman of the Apocalypse (or the woman clothed with the sun, el, γυνὴ περιβεβλημένη τὸν ἥλιον; Latin: ) is a figure, traditionally believed to be the Virgin Mary, described in Chapter 12 of the Book of Revelati ...

, as described in the ''

Book of Revelation The Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament (and consequently the final book of the Christian Bible). Its title is derived from the first word of the Koine Greek text: , meaning "unveiling" or "revelation". The Book of ...

'' (12:1–17).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Panecillo Hills of Ecuador Outdoor sculptures Quito Canton Aluminium sculptures 1976 sculptures Geography of Pichincha Province

Statue

See also

References