Virgin of the Immaculate Conception

The dogma of the Immaculate Conception (that Jesus Christ's mother, the Virigin Mary, was conceived in the womb of her mother, Anne, without intercourse having first occurred) was not officially approved by the Papacy in Rome until the mid-19th century. But throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, images of the Virgin as immaculately conceived were widespread in Spain. Here the Virgin is shown poised on a celestial cloud of cherubims. Her delicate features, as well as the silhouetted billowing form, recall the work of the versatile sculptor, painter and architect Alonso Cano (1601-1667), who was active in Granada as well as in Seville.