Collection: Immaculate Conception with Sts. Joachim and Anne

ARTIST: Museum Religious Art Classics

ARTWORK NARRATIVE:

Artist: Francisco de Zurbarán – c. 1638 – 1640

The Virgin Mary appears on a pedestal of cherubs' heads above a crescent moon, bathed in golden light. The figures below are her parents, Saints Joachim and Anne. The subject of the Immaculate Conception refers to the Virgin's own miraculous conception in her mother Anne's womb, not to the conception of Christ. It was a popular subject in Seville, but the inclusion of the Virgin's parents is unusual. Since Saints Joachim and Anna were particularly venerated by Carthusian monks this painting may have been made for a Carthusian monastery.

Feast day is December 8.