The Immaculate Conception, Mariano Salvador de Maella

Archive Label 2003: According to Catholic ideology, Mary was conceived without sin and was, therefore, worthy to bear the Savior. Images of Mary in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries often emphasized her chosen status, which was preordained by her Immaculate Conception. In Maella’s painting, the Virgin Mary is surrounded by angels and traditional symbols of her purity: the mirror and lily. God recognizes her purity by raising his hand to her. Mary in this context is also associated with “the woman robed by the sun” from Revelation 12, the “apocalyptic woman.” As such, she is bathed in light and wears a halo of twelve stars, representing the Tribes of Israel or the Apostles. The dragon refers to the serpent that tempted Adam and Eve, as well as to the dragon of Revelation that threatens the woman and child during the Apocalypse. Archive Label 1999: The Virgin of the Immaculate Conception was a popular subject in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Catholic art. According to Christian beliefs, Mary was conceived without sin by divine intervention and was, therefore, worthy to be the mother of the Saviour. In this painting, Mary kneels before God the Father surrounded by her traditional symbols: the mirror held by an angel reflects her purity, the lily symbolizes her virginity, and the palm represents her triumph over sin. Her halo of twelve stars refers alternatively to the Tribes of Israel or the Apostles as well as to the Woman of the Apocalypse from the Book of Revelations. Mary's placement over the serpent refers to her triumph as the new Eve over the fall of humanity. Maella's painting has political significance as well. King Charles III of Spain declared the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception to be the patron of Spain and the Indies.