Author: unknown
Date: beginning of the 20th century
Materials: damask, thread, tube glass beads, silver thread, silvery stripe, sequins and decorative stones
Dimensions: H. 40,5 x W. 27 cm
Reference: CMRG.761.MEA.184
On display: Azorean Emigration Museum – Ribeira Grande
Notes: This piece was donated by Joyce Vieira and Maria Vieira in 2009. After the extinction of the Holy Ghost Portuguese Social Club around 1998, 12 years later its founders, Joyce Raposo and Maria Vieira, decided to offer to the Azorean Emigration Museum the two most emblematic pieces of the extinct institution – the flag and the crown of the Holy Spirit, symbols of great religious, historical and sentimental value for the religious emigrant community.
The devotion and worship of the Holy Spirit, taken to the United States and Canada by thousands of Azorean emigrants, has led to countless demonstrations and organizations, not only of festivities and bodos (religious and festive food distribution), but also of solidarity.
Together with a flag, this crown was offered to Ribeira Grande Municipal Museum – Azorean Emigration Museum and somehow symbolizes that deep relationship that many Azoreans have with the Divine, regardless of where they currently might live.
