Archdiocesan Museum of Religious Art, Popayán
Colonial religious art and goldwork in an eighteenth-century house in Popayán's white centre.
The museum stands on Calle 4, opposite the church of Santo Domingo, in one of the eighteenth-century houses that give Popayán its uniformly whitewashed colonial centre. The building has a neoclassical front, a colonnaded patio and deep galleries typical of the wealthy houses of the Cauca valley. It was adapted by the archdiocese and inaugurated on 21 September 1979 to conserve, restore and display the religious art held by parishes and convents across the region.
Its holdings are considered among the most important collections of colonial religious art in south-western Colombia. Rotating displays cover painting, polychrome sculpture, vestments and embroidery, liturgical furniture and above all silver and goldwork, including a celebrated group of twelve monstrances worked in gold and set with emeralds and other precious stones. Several pieces are carried in Popayán's Holy Week processions, which are inscribed on the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage.
Highlights
- Collection of twelve gold and jewelled monstrances
- Colonial painting, sculpture, vestments and silverwork
- Eighteenth-century house with neoclassical front and patio
- Pieces used in Popayán's Holy Week processions
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