The Immaculate Conception

The Immaculate Conception was close to a national cause in 17th-century Spain, defended in sermons and demanded in paintings long before Rome made it official doctrine. Zurbaran painted this version in 1661, near the end of his life. He shows the Virgin as a very young girl, arms opening to accept grace, a crown of twelve stars over her head. Scattered in the misty landscape below are her traditional emblems, a tower, a walled garden, a ship, a mirror, each a symbol praising her purity. By this date Zurbaran's stark early manner had softened into these gentler, sweeter figures, partly under the pull of the younger Murillo, whose lighter style was overtaking his in their shared city of Seville. Zurbaran died three years later, out of fashion and short of money.