Record details

• generalData.authorNameInListings

  Antonio Palomino y Velasco (1655-1726)

• generalData.title

  Immaculate Conception

• technicalData.measurements

  186 x 122 cm

• technicalData.description

  Oil on canvas

• technicalData.complementaryDescription

  The Virgin wears a floating blue mantle and a white tunic, following the iconography recommended by Francisco Pacheco in his writings. Her long brown hair slides over her shoulders, and is crowned by a nimbus of twelve stars, according to the description in chapter 12 of the Book of Revelation. It is surrounded by clouds populated with winged heads of cherubs, and at its feet is a group of little singing angels, who hold two of the Marian plant attributes, the lily and the white lily. In contrast to the light that surrounds the protagonist, who rises to the heavens, the infernal dragon or the snake appears, which she is stepping on. This monster carries between its teeth the apple of the original sin of Adam and Eve in paradise; Its features are very similar to those of the monster that appears in other Immaculate Conception by Antonio Palomino, such as the Immaculate Conception of the Prado Museum on deposit at the Museum of Fine Arts of Córdoba.
  This Virgin between haloes appears in the foreground, invading a large part of the pictorial surface, which gives her a strong presence. It is part of the context of the Counter-Reformation that follows the Council of Trent (1545-1563) in response to the Protestant Reformation: very powerful and exciting religious images are created to gain the support of the faithful.