Baroque Virgin of the Immaculate Conception in polychrome and gilded wood, 17th

Immaculate Conception in polychrome wood with silver crown, Spanish School, 18th century This polychrome and gilded wood carving depicts the Immaculate Conception, approximately 60...

Virgin of Miraflores in polychrome maguey wood with Child and copper crown, 18th century Magnificent sculpture of the Virgin of Miraflores carved in polychrome maguey wood, from the ...

Renaissance polychrome and gilded wooden sculpture of Saint Anne, Spain, 16th century Imposing carved, polychrome, and gilded wooden sculpture, representing Saint Anne. Made in the ...

Baroque polychrome wooden statue of Saint Mary Magdalene with chalice and silver crown, 18th century Description: An exceptional 18th-century Spanish-style statue of Saint Mary Magd...

This finely carved and polychrome-painted wooden sculpture depicts the Immaculate Virgin Mary in a classic pose, standing atop the globe with a serpent beneath her feet — a powerful ...

Nossa Senhora da Conceição (The Immaculate Conception) Brazil (Minas Gerais), 18th century, or Luso-Brazilian Carved steatite (pedra sabão) with traces of original polychromy; mounte...

A wood sculpture wonderfully carved depiction of the Virgin Mary with Jesus Child gilded with gold leaf and polychrome painted, Spain, mid-18th century...

Completely hand-crafted in 18th century Spain, this sculpture of the Virgin stands 1.5 meters / 5 feet tall and was most certainly created for devotional purposes, to be displayed in a church or chapel. Besides its impressive size this sculpture is an excellent, museum-quality example of the Spanish “Estofado” polychrome technique, developed during the Gothic period to imitate rich brocade fabrics. The finely carved “fabric” areas of the sculpture would be first covered in gesso, and then a layer of gold leaf would be applied. The gold leaf would then be painted over with various colors of tempera paints. Once dry, the painted surface would be incised or scratched away in patterns, revealing the gold beneath. The sculpture was professionally restored in 2022 by a firm that is often hired by the Spanish government to work on historic building interiors and museum pieces. The virgin was carefully cleaned, repaired and its condition stabilized. A complete and fully-illustrated restoration report will be included with purchase. Often confused with the virgin birth of Jesus, the belief that the Blessed Virgin Mary herself was conceived “immaculately” without original sin has been variously defended and debated within the Catholic Church since the pre-Middle Ages. For centuries, artists struggled to create an acceptable visual representation of this highly abstract concept, in part taking inspiration from the Book of Revelation and other scriptural sources. We see the Virgin standing on a half moon (biblically inspired, though also an ancient symbol of chastity) with her long natural hair loose down her back, another indication of purity. Both her white tunic and flowing blue mantle...