The Virgin of El Camino with St. Fermín and St. Saturnino

The Virgin of El Camino with St. Fermín and St. Saturnino

Nicolás Enríquez

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

According to legend, the sculpture known as Our Lady of El Camino miraculously appeared in the rafters of the Pamplona, Spain, parish of San Saturnino in 1487, having transported itself there from a derelict hermitage in another location. Devotion to the image prevails in Pamplona and the rest of Navarre, including the owner’s native Baztán Valley, whose checkerboard coat of arms appears beneath the Virgin. Figures of Saint Saturnino and Saint Fermín, patrons of Pamplona and Navarre, respectively, are also included. The composition is copied from an indulgenced print that promises remission of punishment for sins in exchange for reciting prayers in front of the image.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Virgin of El Camino with St. Fermín and St. SaturninoThe Virgin of El Camino with St. Fermín and St. SaturninoThe Virgin of El Camino with St. Fermín and St. SaturninoThe Virgin of El Camino with St. Fermín and St. SaturninoThe Virgin of El Camino with St. Fermín and St. Saturnino

The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.