Quito
Virgin of El Panecillo
July 2004
The Virgin of El Panecillo stands above Quito’s historic center on El Panecillo, a rounded hill rising approximately 9,840 feet (3,000 meters) above sea level. The monument is also known as the Winged Virgin and the Virgin of the Apocalypse.
Spanish sculptor Agustín de la Herrán Matorras designed the aluminum monument as an enlarged interpretation of the Virgin of Quito, a wooden sculpture created in 1734 by Bernardo de Legarda, an important artist of the Quito School. Legarda’s original remains in the main altarpiece of Quito’s Church of San Francisco.
The monument was assembled from approximately 7,400 numbered metal sections and completed in 1975. The figure measures about 98 feet (30 meters), while its stone and reinforced-concrete pedestal adds approximately 36 feet (11 meters), producing a total height of about 135 feet (41 meters).
Its imagery combines the Immaculate Conception with the Woman of the Apocalypse: the winged Virgin wears a crown of twelve stars and stands above a globe while restraining a serpent or dragon beneath her feet. The interior of the pedestal contains access to viewing areas and stained-glass representations of the Virgin Mary.
