Artwork Page for The Immaculate Conception

Details / Information for The Immaculate Conception

The Immaculate Conception

c. 1680

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo

(Spanish, 1617–1682)
Culture
Spain, 17th century
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
Framed: 246.3 x 152.7 x 8 cm (96 15/16 x 60 1/8 x 3 1/8 in.); Unframed: 220.5 x 127.5 cm (86 13/16 x 50 3/16 in.)
Credit Line
Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund 1959.189
Public Domain
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Location
212 Baroque Painting and Sculpture
Print

Description

The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception maintains that the Virgin Mary was conceived free from sin, therefore ready to be the pure vessel for Christ’s birth. The Immaculate Conception enjoyed intense devotion in Spain during the 1600s, although it was only accepted as official doctrine in 1854. The abstract subject required artists to develop appropriate imagery. The crescent moon, for example, comes from the New Testament vision of Saint John the Evangelist (Revelation 12:1) of “a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet.”
Vertically oriented oil painting depicting the Virgin Mary, a woman with light skin tone draped in white and dark blue robes and floating among grey clouds. She crosses her hands in front of her chest, looking up with white light radiating from behind her head and wavy, brown hair. Five nude, winged children gather around the clouds she stands on, holding flowers and a palm leaf. A crescent moon sticks out from under her feet.

The Immaculate Conception

c. 1680

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo

(Spanish, 1617–1682)
Spain, 17th century

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