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Diego Velázquez, 'The Immaculate Conception', 1618-19

About the work

Overview

A young woman floats above a landscape, standing on a translucent moon and with a crown of 12 stars. This imagery is based on the New Testament Book of Revelation. In it, Saint John the Evangelist records his vision of the Woman of the Apocalypse, who bears a male child and is threatened by a dragon – the devil.

In the Catholic faith, this woman represents the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ. Her hands are clasped in prayer and she looks down in humility to show her protection over mankind. The garden, fountain, temple and ship at the bottom are all symbols normally associated with her and were included in a litany (or prayer) dedicated to the Virgin.

With its companion painting, Saint John on the Island of Patmos, this is one of Velázquez’s earliest known works.

Key facts

Details

Full title
The Immaculate Conception
Artist dates
1599 - 1660
Part of the series
Two Paintings for the Shod Carmelites, Seville
Date made
1618-19
Medium and support
oil on canvas
Dimensions
135 × 101.6 cm
Acquisition credit
Bought with the aid of the Art Fund, 1974
Inventory number
NG6424
Location
Not on display
Collection
Main Collection
Frame
16th-century Italian Frame

About this record

If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.

Images

About the series: Two Paintings for the Shod Carmelites, Seville

Overview

Velázquez painted these two works as companion pieces during his early career in Seville, in around 1618. They were perhaps intended to promote the recent celebrations in the city of a papal decree defending the mystery of the Immaculate Conception, the belief that the Virgin Mary was conceived without sin.

We don't know who commissioned The Immaculate Conception and Saint John the Evangelist on the Island of Patmos, but they are first recorded in 1800 in the chapter house of the Convent of the Shod Carmelite Order in Seville.

Saint John and the Virgin both appear in the foreground, surrounded by objects identifying who they are, strongly illuminated from the top left. The colours of the Virgin’s clothes are echoed in reverse in Saint John’s, and both paintings demonstrate Velázquez’s skill in conveying a strong contrast between light and shade.

Works in the series

On the Greek island of Patmos, Saint John the Evangelist had a vision of the Woman of the Apocalypse, which he recorded in the New Testament Book of Revelation. Here he sits with an oversized book in his lap, his quill pen poised, and looks towards the tiny illuminated female figure hovering in t...
Not on display
A young woman floats above a landscape, standing on a translucent moon and with a crown of 12 stars. This imagery is based on the New Testament Book of Revelation. In it, Saint John the Evangelist records his vision of the Woman of the Apocalypse, who bears a male child and is threatened by a dra...
Not on display