Attributed to Alonso Cano

Attributed to ALONSO CANO (Granada, 1601 - 1667).
"Immaculate Conception".
Carved and gilded wood.
It retains traces of polychrome.
Measurements: 135 x 54 x 32 cm; 170 cm (total height).
This devotional sculpture represents the Virgin Mary in her invocation of the Immaculate Conception, conceived within the scope of the Granada school and following the models established by Alonso Cano, key figure of the Spanish Baroque and founder of the sculptural language of Granada. The Virgin appears in a praying attitude, suspended on a crescent moon pedestal, in a composition of clear spiritual elevation. The carving stands out for the extraordinary subtlety in the treatment of the drapery, especially in the mantle, which seems to undulate gently as if moved by an invisible breeze, and for the idealized fineness of the features of the face, conceived under a canon of serene and ethereal beauty.
The work is part of the Baroque devotional tradition, where the image not only fulfills a function of worship, but also of emotional and theological contemplation. In this sense, the Granada school, direct heir to the teaching of Alonso Cano, developed a sculptural language characterized by restrained elegance, refined spirituality and a strong expressive charge, far removed from the more extreme dramatism of other Baroque schools.
Alonso Cano is considered one of the most influential figures of Spanish Baroque art. Initially trained in the family environment of carving altarpieces, he developed between Seville, Madrid and Granada, where he consolidated a personal style that integrated painting, sculpture and architecture. His contact with masters such as Francisco Pacheco and his relationship with artists such as Velázquez contributed to the formation of a refined language, which evolved from an initial tenebrism towards a more luminous and elegant aesthetic, sometimes close to the sensibility of Van Dyck. His final stage in Granada was decisive for the configuration of the local school, forming disciples such as Pedro de Mena or José de Mora, who perpetuated his vision of a deeply spiritual sculpture, based on the idealization of forms and the search for a transcendent beauty.
In this context, the image of the Immaculate Conception should not be understood solely as a Marian representation, but as the culmination of an aesthetic and theological ideal: a figure suspended between the human and the divine, where matter and spirituality merge in a language of extraordinary delicacy.