On-line gallery
- Reference number
- P02809
- Author
- Murillo, Bartolomé Esteban (Spanish)
- Title
- The Immaculate Conception of the Venerable Ones, or of `Soult'
- Chronology
- Ca. 1678
- Technique
- Support
- Measures
- 274 cm x 190 cm
- School
- Theme
- Shown
- Yes
- Entrance
- PERMUTA
- Procedence
- Acquisition, 19401
Murillo painted many Immaculate
Conceptions, and in the last years
of his life, he created an ideal
formula in which the Virgin wears
white and blue, with her hands
crossed on her bosom and a clear
ascending impulse that is very
Baroque. Mary is situated in a
heavenly space inhabited by light,
clouds and angels that serves to
join two iconographic traditions:
that of the Immaculate Conception
itself, and that of the
Ascension.
The loose, energetic brushstrokes,
spiral composition and use of
light, as well as the sense of
movement that emanates from this
work, make it an extraordinary
example of Baroque art.
This work was commissioned by
Justino de Neve (1625-1685) for the
Hospital of the Venerable Priests
of Seville. During the War for
Independence, in 1813, it was taken
to France by Marshall Soult. In
1941, it returned to the Prado
Museum after almost a century on
display at the Louvre in Paris.
Location on the map
