The White Ravens Database

Presented by   Internationale Jugendbibliothek / International Youth Library

Spanish / Colombia

El hombre dorado

(The golden man)

Paz-Castillo, María Fernanda (text)
París, Ramón (illus.)
Bogotá: Cataplum Libros, 2024. – [36] p.
ISBN 978-628-96020-5-0

Colombia  | Muisca <people>  | Indigenous people  | Initiation  | Gold  | Picture book

Reading age: 7+

White Ravens issue: 2024

OPAC

Anyone who has seen the famous miniature raft made of filigree gold now held in the Museo del Oro in Bogotá knows of the rich culture and craftsmanship that were characteristic of the Muisca, an indigenous people, who once lived in the highlands of present-day Colombia – and of the role gold played there. In a successful combination of cultural and historical facts and fiction María Fernanda Paz-Castillo describes the ceremony in which, after the death of a cacique (ruler), the new young cacique is inaugurated. With his skin dusted in gold and accompanied by priests, he goes out on Lake Guatavita on a raft and dives into the lake to offer this gold to the gods. In just a few sentences Paz-Castillo creates a vivid picture of this ritual. The double-page illustrations by Ramón París are striking and opulent, focusing on the details of clothing and jewellery. They celebrate nature, light and the solemnity of the moment, which is imprinted in the memory of the reader through the predominantly yellow and gold tones. [JW]