Christ of Consolation in the Cemetery of the Parish Church of San Sebastián in Madrid
1729. Taille douce: etching and engraving on wove paper.Not on display
Copies of the Virgin of Solitude were made in prints, the cheapest and most widely distributed medium, in which popular interpretations were produced alongside others of excellent quality, such as those made by friar Matías de Irala (1680–1753). Irala’s testimony is priceless because it shows not only the image with all the paraphernalia of its altarpiece but also its appearance on the processional floats for which it was originally created. Prints likewise attest to the success the iconography enjoyed throughout Spain in the form of the many devotional images which reproduced the Virgin of Solitude in whole or in part, providing further proof of her efficacy as an intercessor. Examples from different chronological periods are Matías de Irala’s prints of the Christ of Consolation in the church of San Sebastián in Madrid.
Arias Martínez, Manuel, Darse la mano. Escultura y color en el Siglo de Oro, Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, 2024, p.213-214
