Spanish or Novo-Hispanic school; 18th century.

Spanish or Novo-Hispanic school; XVIII century.
"Virgin of Carmen with the souls of Purgatory".
Oil on canvas.
Presents faults and restorations.
Measurements: 155 x 106 cm; 160 x 112 cm (frame).
This work belongs to the devotional pictorial tradition of the XVIII century, common to the Spanish school as well as to the novo-Hispanic one, in which the Carmelite iconography reached a wide diffusion. The Virgin of Mount Carmel is presented as a central figure, frontal and majestic, crowned and wrapped in wide cloths that fall with gravity and symmetry, reinforcing her role as mediator between heaven and the penitent souls.
From the stylistic point of view, the composition responds to a hierarchical and clear scheme: the Virgin, elevated on clouds and surrounded by cherubs, dominates the celestial space, while in the lower zone appear the souls of Purgatory, represented with gestures of supplication and hope. The scapular that the Virgin offers becomes the symbolic axis of the scene, alluding to the promise of salvation and Marian intercession, an essential element of this iconography.
The painting shows a softened late-baroque language, with a predominance of soft brushstrokes, softened contours and a warm and enveloping illumination. The expressiveness is restrained and didactic, oriented more to devotion than to dramatism, a characteristic feature of both late Spanish production and New Spanish painting, where these models were widely reinterpreted.