Muisca
Votive Figure (Tunjo)
Muisca, 15th century
Physical Qualities
Gold-copper Alloy, 3 3/4 in. (9.5 cm.)
Credit Line
Bequest of Alan Wurtzburger
Object Number
1960.30.88
This golden human figure and snake were created by Muisca artists as offerings to the gods, including the Sun god Zue whose radiance was mimicked by the glittering votives. The Muisca people, who flourished in Colombia from around 600–1600, deposited votive offerings, also known as tunjos, in huge amounts at sites like caves, lakes, and rivers where the veil between the ordinary world and the divine world was perceived by the Muisca people to be the thinnest.
Darienne Turner, Baltimore Museum of Art, Ancient Americas Gallery Rotations, December 12, 2021.
Baltimore Museum of Art. The Alan Wurtzburger Collection of Pre-Columbian Art. Baltimore, MD: Baltimore Museum of Art, 1958, no. 88, page 35.
On View: Ancient Americas
