IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. POLYCHROMED WOOD. 18TH CENTURY.
Antiques - Sculpture
Reference: ZF1555
Immaculate Conception. Polychrome wood. 18th century. It has faults. A sculpture carved from wood and mounted on a base, depicting a young woman dressed in a tunic and a cloak draped over her left shoulder. She stands on a cloud adorned with numerous angel heads, her palms clasped in front of her chest. Two ears of wheat on the cloud suggest the presence of two crescent moon points, and small holes in her back hint at the possibility of a halo or similar element. The iconography of this image follows one of the most common ways of depicting the Virgin Mary in Spanish Baroque art, a style also prevalent in other schools (where the Virgin of the Conception or the Immaculate Conception is more frequently referenced). This devotion, known as the Immaculate Conception, features an iconography whose development began in Spanish Gothic art, reflecting a desire to emphasize the purity of the Mother of Christ. Initially, it included details from the Vision of Saint John on Patmos and elements from the Marian Litany, becoming simpler over time. Typologically, there are also clear Spanish influences in the design (heads of angels in the cloud, etc.). The face is reminiscent of Philippine works, such as the ivory carving from the first half of the 18th century housed in The Hispanic Society Museum (inv. D753). We believe, however, that the most striking feature of this sculpture is its polychromy, given that it follows the aforementioned texts more closely than many other sculptures. It depicts the figure "clothed in light," with a sun on its mantle (against a black background, with a striking composition of gold rhombuses and roses—not European roses, but varieties with more petals, derived from Chinese specimens). This mantle is further polychromed with a gold border featuring vegetal elements and large painted red (rubies) and black (diamonds) jewels surrounded by circles, likely reminiscent of pearls. The inner part of the mantle also has a dark background and gold elements in pairs of lines framing scrolls with a distinctly European and classical influence. The tunic features a decoration, on a striped background, of iris or lily, of the type that appears, for example, in paintings attributed to Albrecht Dürer (tempera on paper, 1508, Library of the Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain).
· Size: 12x12x32 cms.
4.500 €
