Immaculate Conception (Murillo)

The canvas “The Immaculate Conception (Venerable Clergy)” was commissioned by Bartolome Esteban Murillo, the canon of the Seville Cathedral, Justino de Neve, for the hospice for the elderly priests (“de los Venerables Sacerdotes”) in Seville ^[3] . Beginning in the sixteenth century, special veneration and devotion to the Catholic dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary was spread in Spain. The image of the Immaculate Conception was proclaimed the protection of Spain.

Since 1810, the painting was in Seville Alcazar . During the Napoleonic Wars, the painting, along with many other works of art, was requisitioned by the French Marshal Nicola Jean de Dieu Soult and in 1813 ended up in Paris in the Soult collection ^[4] . After the death of the Marshal in May 1851, his heirs sold a painting from the Soult collection to the French state for 615,300 francs, which amounted to a significant amount for that time ^[3] . The painting was exhibited in the Louvre .

In 1941, the Vichy government traded a painting for the famous Velazquez painting “Portrait of Queen Marianne of Austria ”. Since then, the "Immaculate Conception" is in the Prado Museum. In 2007-2009, the painting was restored.

Murillo wrote about two dozen paintings of the Immaculate Conception during his life. In most of them, the Virgin Mary is depicted in a white robe and blue mantle. In the painting “de los Venerables”, the young beautiful Virgin Mary stands on a crescent moon, arms crossed over her chest, her gaze fixed on heaven. It is as if easily ascended to heaven surrounded by light, clouds and angels. In the manner of Murillo, there was a mixture of the Immaculate Conception and Ascension. The Immaculate Conception de los Venerables is one of the most expressive paintings of the Immaculate Conception by the painter. It is distinguished by its triumphal orientation and the complete absence of traditional symbols of the Tower of David , a sealed fountain, palm trees or cypress. These symbols were once presented in the original frame of the painting, which is still in Seville in the residence "de los Venerables Sacerdotes" (now a museum). A similar iconography painting, The Immaculate Conception, Murillo is in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg ^[5] .

• The Immaculate Conception of Los Venerables (neopr.) . Museo del Prado. Date of treatment March 10, 2019. (English)