Light feebly enters the darkened room, slowly reddening, then bursting into golden brilliance. The impact of being surrounded by myriad objects, hand-wrought in solid gold, is almost overwhelming. Even years later, visitors to the Gold Museum in Bogotá recall with awe the stunning effect of the vast treasure displayed. Indeed, the subtle lighting techniques employed by the Museo del Oro del Banco de la República to highlight its extraordinary collection help make it outstanding among museums devoted to a single theme.
In 1939, Colombia's Bank of the Republic began to acquire historic indigenous work in gold in an enlightened policy designed to halt the diminution of a national heritage. The bank made its move none too early. Since the turn of the century, local and foreign collectors had been eagerly buying gold objects from entrepreneurial-minded huaqueros, whose livelihood was the robbing of ancient burial sites. Today, the Gold Museum's collection, installed in a handsome modern building, includes over twenty-seven thousand gold artifacts and is the largest collection of gold objects ever assembled.
The Golden Man
The "gold rush" for Colombian treasures first began four hundred years earlier, driven by a strange, haunting legend. Explorers were told of elaborate rites about the crowning of rulers of the Andean Muisca tribe. Covered with gold dust, the naked leader would set out upon a raft on the crater lake of Guatavita. To the accompaniment of wailing music and the shouting of his people, El Dorado, the "Golden Man," would throw vast quantities of gold and emeralds into the deep water to satisfy his demon gods.
The saga of El Dorado and a land of untold riches fired the imaginations of Spanish conquistadors. In 1536, Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada set out on foot from the Caribbean coast. Of his original six hundred-man force, only 160 adventurers eventually reached Lake Guatavita. Two years later they founded Bogotá nearby. They also discovered native villages literally strung with gold.
Partly because of Colombia's forbidding natural environment, little historical data exist concerning its early people. We do know that certain of the tribes were as advanced in agriculture and mining as the Aztec, Maya, and Inca civilizations, and that the craftsmanship of their goldwork is of the finest quality. Unfortunately, their very accomplishments led to their enslavement.
Almost every piece of gold taken by the Spanish from the New World was melted into gold ingots to pay for the wars of Charles V. Throughout the New World colonies, this work was entrusted to the Indians, for the conquistadors had no knowledge of metallurgy. Thus, Indian goldsmiths were forced to destroy their own artworks.
Burial Sites
Fortunately, burial sites in what is now Colombia were traditionally concealed from view and were therefore better protected than those in Mexico and Peru. Thousands of tombs survived the Spanish Conquest. Thanks to the foresight of the Bank of the Republic, we are able to enjoy their treasures today.
In South America,
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