The Immaculate Conception; Spanish School, c. 1700

The Immaculate Conception; Spanish School, c. 1700
Carved and polychromed wood
Shows signs of repainting, damage, and loss of polychrome
Measurements: 31 x 13 x 8 cm.

A sculpture in the round depicting the Immaculate Conception, carved from wood and polychromed. The Virgin is shown standing on a crescent moon and a globe adorned with three cherub heads, with her hands clasped over her chest. She wears a bluish tunic and a mantle falling from her shoulders, with her face framed by a headdress and veil. The sculpture rests on an octagonal pedestal polychromed in reddish tones.

Devotion to the Immaculate Conception reached extraordinary prominence in late Baroque Spain, establishing itself in the late 17th and early 18th centuries as the quintessential Marian theme in the Peninsula’s sacred art. Following the guidelines established by theorists such as Francisco Pacheco and popularized by masters such as Murillo and Cano, these devotional images of medium or small size were intended for niches, private oratories, and small chapels. The compositional scheme encapsulates the apocalyptic vision of the “woman clothed with the sun,” making these pieces important testimonies to the popular piety and iconographic production of the era.