This is a wonderful exhibition to visit while in San Jose Costa Rica, right in the heart of downtown, the Museum is located on the basement of Plaza de la Cultura, next to the National Theater, therefore a visit to this other place is a must. The collection consists of 1600 pieces of Pre-Columbian gold work that date from 500 AD to 1500 AD.

These pictures are a few samples of the artifacts exhibited. The pictures were taken without flash, with the permission of the Museum’s authorities during 2005.

For a better acknowledgement of what the figure might represent I’ve copied the following text from the web site of the National Museum of Costa Rica: 

MAGICAL SYMBOLS OF NATURE
Pre-Columbian artifacts very often not only served practical functions, but also were heavily charged with religious symbolism. The many human figures masked as animals or posed in ritual postures reveal to us an animistic, multiple-deity religious beliefs system where the natural and the supernatural realms were melded in special ways that only shamanic personages endowed with magical powers could interpret and control. Like most indigenous people of the world, those of Costa Rica lived in a close and spiritual understanding of nature. All living plants and animals were thought to have something akin to a “soul”. Certain animal were thought to be endowed with magical powers, and were portrayed more often: generally animals that bite, sting or are poisonous. Shamans were thought to be able to use animals as their emissaries or to spy for them. Powerful shamans were thought to be able to actually take on animal forms, become the essence of that animal. 

THE PEOLE BEHIND THE ARTIFACTS
Today, we can only partially reconstruct past cultures through the material artifacts and features that survived them. They constitute our only window to the past, although the few surviving indigenous groups  contribute to our understanding through the stories and myths they have preserved through oral traditions. We must use as best all these sources of information to recreate religious belief systems, socio-political organization and burial costumes, and to relive their feelings of a magical connection to the exuberant natural world that surrounded them. All these things give us an imperfect, but endlessly fascinating glimpse into the exotic past of what today we call Costa Rica.