Virgin of El Panecillo, Aluminum statue on El Panecillo hill, Quito, Ecuador.

The Virgin of El Panecillo is a 41-metre aluminum statue on the hill of the same name, assembled from 7,400 numbered panels designed by Agustín de la Herrán Matorras. It stands on a concrete base clad in volcanic stone, and a globe-shaped capsule at the base leads to the viewing platforms. The figure wears a full-length robe with a scale pattern, her right arm raised and open, wings spread, a small figure wrapped across her chest and a chain hanging from her hand.

The idea of crowning El Panecillo dates from the 1950s; in 1969 a municipal commission chose Bernardo de Legarda's Virgin of Quito, carved in 1734, as the model. The concrete base, clad in volcanic stone, was finished in 1974, and the 7,400 numbered aluminum pieces designed by Agustín de la Herrán Matorras in Madrid were assembled and completed on March 28, 1975.

The statue reproduces Bernardo de Legarda's 1734 wooden Virgin of Quito, whose added wings express the Assumption and whose feet crush a chained serpent, the Church's triumph over sin. Since its installation the hill has hosted a giant Christmas nativity of lights and the traditional Novena.

The climb inside uses narrow spiral staircases to reach the viewing platform, so visitors with fear of heights or limited mobility should consider this. Free days and opening hours change during religious holidays, so checking ahead helps avoid surprises.

The 7,400 aluminum pieces were cast and numbered in Madrid before being shipped to Ecuador and reassembled on the hill, and the numbers are still visible on the plates inside the globe-shaped base that leads up to the viewing platform. The Ecuadorian film A tus espaldas (2011) used the statue's image on its posters, with a woman's bare back turned toward southern Quito.