Antonio de Pereda - The Immaculate Conception - 1657

The Immaculate Conception was a very popular theme in Spanish seventeenth-century painting. The subject references the Catholic doctrine that the Virgin Mary was born free from original sin, which is thought to affect all mankind after Adam and Eve's betrayal in the Garden of Eden. Pereda followed tradition by depicting the Virgin surrounded by putti carrying symbols of her purity, such as the white lillies. Despite his composition being somewhat outdated at the time, Pereda stands out for his Venetian coloring reminiscent of paintings by Titian that he would have seen as a court painter for Philip IV.