Immaculate Conception. Carved and polychrome wood, glass, silver. Portuguese school, 18th century. Sculpture made of wood showing a young Mary, with her hands together in front of her chest in an attitude of prayer, and standing on a cloud, from which emerge winged angel heads and on which there is a “false” (a silver crescent moon with a face on both sides). Dressed in a tunic, the cloak appears waving, the garments decorated with flowers, waves, etc., combining polychromy and gilding. She has a crown, in silver in its colour, with architectural and plant elements of strong classicist influence, which does not show contrasting marks. Under the cloud, there is a rectangular pedestal, made of gilded wood and decorated with architectural and plant elements in relief. Note that it is also worked on the back, where a label appears after the completion of the work. Given its iconography, it is believed to be a carving of the Immaculate Conception. It is one of the most common models for depicting the Virgin in Spanish Baroque art, and is also common in other schools (where reference is usually made to the Virgin of the Conception or the Immaculate Conception). This devotion presents an iconography whose development began in Spanish Gothic art, responding to a desire to highlight the purity of the Mother of Christ. In its beginnings, it presented details of the Vision of Saint John on Patmos and elements belonging to the Marian Litanies, becoming simpler over time. Stylistically, the movement and certain details of the mantle show a certain influence of Rococo, an artistic movement that originated in France (where it developed between 1730 and 1760) and which spread from there to other European schools. There is evidence of the existence of a sculpture quite similar to the one present in the Portuguese Nossa Senhora da Vila, Nossa Senhora do Bispo e Silveiras (officially: União de Freguesias de Nossa Senhora da Vila, Nossa Senhora do Bispo e Silveiras), Évora, dated to the second half of the 18th century and considered to be from the Portuguese school, although no further details have been found about its authorship. This sculpture also has a base similar to that of this sculpture.
· Size: 21x15x56 cms
ANTIQUES
Ref.: ZF1324
