Follower of Juan de Juanes, XVI century.

Spanish school of the XVI century
Follower of JUAN DE JUANES (Valencia, around 1507 - Bocairente, Valencia, 1579).
"Immaculate".
Oil on panel.
Presents very old restorations and cradled.
Measurements: 97 × 65 cm; 113 x 82 cm (frame).

This panel represents the Immaculate Virgin following an iconographic model of great rootedness in the Valencian painting of the XVI century, close to the scope of Juan de Juanes. The figure of Mary, standing, with her hands together in prayerful attitude, her face serene and her gaze lowered, responds to a contained and devotional spirituality, typical of the refined language of the Valencian master and his followers.

The composition still preserves a formulation prior to the full baroque codification of the Immaculate Conception. Mary appears above the crescent moon, crowned by a starry radiance and surrounded by Marian symbols accompanied by Latin phylacteries: the sun, the star, the rose, the well, the closed door, the cypress, the palm, the cedar or the closed orchard. All of them refer to the litanies and the biblical tradition applied to the purity of the Virgin, turning the work into an authentic visual meditation on her virginity and spiritual perfection.

The influence of Juan de Juanes can be appreciated in the idealized sweetness of the face, the wide folding of the mantle, the chromatic harmony of blues and light tones, and the sense of recollection that dominates the scene. The work participates in the balance between doctrinal clarity, serene beauty and devotional function that characterized Valencian Renaissance painting. It maintains a remarkable interest for its iconographic richness and its link with the early spread of the immaculist cult in Spain.