The Crown of Simón Bolívar is a

civic crown The Civic Crown () was a military decoration during the Roman Republic and the subsequent Roman Empire, given to Romans who saved the lives of fellow citizens. It was regarded as the second highest decoration to which a citizen could aspire (the ...

, or corolla, presented to

Simón Bolívar Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24July 178317December 1830) was a Venezuelan statesman and military officer who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, and Bol ...

by the people of

Cusco Cusco or Cuzco (; or , ) is a city in southeastern Peru, near the Sacred Valley of the Andes mountain range and the Huatanay river. It is the capital of the eponymous Cusco Province, province and Cusco Region, department. The city was the cap ...

in 1825. The crown is exhibited and preserved in the permanent collection of the National Museum of Colombia in Bogotá.

History

Upon entering the city of Cusco in 1825 Simon Bolivar was presented by Francisca Zubiaga y Bernales with a gold corolla after having defeated the

Royalists A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gover ...

in the

Battle of Ayacucho The Battle of Ayacucho (, ) was a decisive military encounter during the Peruvian War of Independence. This battle secured the independence of Peru and ensured independence for the rest of belligerent South American states. In Peru it is conside ...

. Bolívar declined the crown and instead proclaimed that it rightfully belonged to

Antonio José de Sucre Antonio José de Sucre y Alcalá (; 3 February 1795 – 4 June 1830), known as the "Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho" (), was a Venezuelan general and politician who served as the president of Bolivia from 1825 to 1828. A close friend and associate ...

who also declined its ownership and, by choice, sent it to the

Congress of Colombia The Congress of the Republic of Colombia () is the name given to Colombia's bicameral national legislature. The Congress of Colombia consists of the 108-seat Senate, and the 188-seat Chamber of Representatives, Members of both houses are e ...

which accepted it under legislative authority for the newly established national museum. In 1860, during the 1860-1862 Colombia Civil War, the crown was stolen from the National Museum of Colombia by supporters of the liberalist

José María Obando José María Ramón Obando del Campo (August 8, 1795 – April 29, 1861) was a Neogranadine General and politician who twice served as President of Colombia. As a General, he initially fought for the Royalist Army during the Independence Wars o ...

. The crown was missing one of its baroque pearls when returned to the government. In 1889, the crown was initially placed in the vaults of the ''Banco Nacional'', the then central bank of the

United States of Colombia The United States of Colombia () was the name adopted in 1863 by the for the Granadine Confederation, after years of civil war. Colombia became a federal state itself composed of nine "sovereign states.” It comprised the present-day nat ...

. Later that year, it was moved to the presidential residence where it remained in an iron

safe A safe (also called a strongbox or coffer) is a secure lockable enclosure used for securing valuable objects against theft or fire. A safe is usually a hollow cuboid or cylinder, with one face being removable or hinged to form a door. The body ...

until 1938 when it was once again re-located but this time to the vaults of the Bank of the Republic, the newly established central bank of the Republic of Colombia. On 9 April 1948, during the

Bogotazo El Bogotazo (from "Bogotá" and the ''-azo'' suffix of violent augmentation) was a massive outbreak of rioting after the assassination in Bogotá, Colombia of Liberal leader and presidential candidate Jorge Eliécer Gaitán on 9 April 1948 d ...

riots, the crown was safely removed by wrapped in newspaper and transported via taxi away from the resulting chaos which left much of downtown Bogotá destroyed. Since June 2017, the crown has been on display at the National Museum of Colombia in a specially designed vault along with other works of jewelry belonging to the Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History.

Composition

The crown, which measures 7.5 x 22 cm and weighs about 762 grams, is adorned with 47 gold

laurel Laurel may refer to: Plants * Lauraceae, the laurel family * Laurel (plant), including a list of trees and plants known as laurel People * Laurel (given name), people with the given name * Laurel (surname), people with the surname * Laurel (mus ...

leaves which give it the appearance of a

laurel wreath A laurel wreath is a symbol of triumph, a wreath (attire), wreath made of connected branches and leaves of the bay laurel (), an aromatic broadleaf evergreen. It was also later made from spineless butcher's broom (''Ruscus hypoglossum'') or cher ...

, itself a symbol of triumph in

Ancient Greece Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically r ...

and

Ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

. The crown is adorned with 49 baroque pearls, 9 diamonds, 274 diamond sparkles, and 10 gold beads. The making of the crown is attributed to Native American

goldsmith A goldsmith is a Metalworking, metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Modern goldsmiths mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, they have also made cutlery, silverware, platter (dishware), plat ...

''Chungapoma''.

References

External links

Google Arts & Culture
{{crowns 1825 works Baroque art Individual crowns Gold objects

History

Composition

See also

References

External links