IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. WOOD, SILVER, GLASS. PORTUGUESE SCHOOL, 18TH CENTURY.
Antiques - Sculpture
Reference: ZF1324
Immaculate Conception. Carved and polychrome wood, glass, silver. Portuguese School, 18th century. A wooden sculpture depicting a young Mary, clasping her hands in front of her chest in prayer, standing on a cloud from which the winged heads of angels emerge. Dressed in a tunic, her cloak billows, the garments decorated with flowers, waves, and so on, combining polychromy and gilding. It features a silver-colored crown with architectural and plant elements of a strong Classicist influence, which shows no hallmarks. Beneath the cloud is a rectangular, gilded wooden pedestal decorated with architectural and plant elements in relief. Note that the back also features work on the crown, which bears a label made after the work was completed. Based on its iconography, it could be a carving of the Immaculate Conception. It is one of the most common models of depicting the Virgin in Spanish Baroque art, and is also common in other schools (where it is more commonly referred to as 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. Initially, it featured details of the Vision of Saint John on Patmos and elements from the Marian Litany, but became more simplified over time. Stylistically, the movement and certain details of the mantle show a certain influence from Rococo, an artistic movement that originated in France (where it developed between around 1730 and 1760) and spread from there to other European schools. There is evidence 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, dating from the second half of the 18th century and considered to be from the Portuguese school, although no further details about its authorship have been found. This sculpture also features a pedestal similar to that of this sculpture.
· Size: 21x15x56 cms
6.500 €
