Spanish school; c. 1715.

Spanish school; c. 1715.
"Virgin of the Fuencisla.
Oil on canvas.
Presents inscription. Dated.
Measurements: 127 x 105 cm; 142 x 119 cm (frame).
The work shows, on an undetermined background populated by Angels, the image of the Virgin Mary with the Child in her arms. By the clothing and the large crown on her head, the image is reminiscent of the invocation of the Virgin Fuencisla, similar to the sculpture of the image of Our Lady of Fuencisla located in the Sanctuary of the Virgin located in Segovia. Place where she is venerated.
Spanish baroque painting is one of the most authentic and personal examples of our art, because its conception and its form of expression arose from the people and the deepest feelings that nested in it. With the economy of the State broken, the nobility in decline and the high clergy burdened with heavy taxes, it was the monasteries, the parishes and the confraternities of clerics and laymen who promoted its development, the works sometimes being financed by popular subscription. Sculpture was thus compelled to embody the prevailing ideals in these environments, which were none other than religious ones, at a time when the counter-reformist doctrine demanded from art a realistic language so that the faithful would understand and identify with what was represented, and an expression endowed with an intense emotional content to increase the fervor and devotion of the people. The religious subject is, therefore, the preferred theme of Spanish painting of this period, which in the first decades of the century starts from a priority interest in capturing the natural, to progressively intensify throughout the century the expression of expressive values, which is achieved through the movement and variety of gestures, the use of light resources and the representation of moods and feelings.