Virgin of Peace
Ca. 1772. Grey-brown wash, Pencil ground, Ink on paper.Not on display
The list of Marian dedications with arboreal connections is endless, and their representations were very successfully disseminated through prints. Some images were reported as having appeared inside trunks. Others appeared on trees. Examples range from the Virgin of the Pine in the Canary Islands to the Virgin of Peace in Alcobendas, discovered on a fig tree, to mention just a few. It was as if the material itself expressed an inner connection with what was represented, as in primitive pantheistic codes.
Arias Martínez, Manuel, Darse la mano. Escultura y color en el Siglo de Oro, Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, 2024, p.97-98