The frequent portrayals of the Immaculate Conception in Spanish 17th-century art can be interpreted as a response to the desire to defend the cult of the Virgin Mary and her virginity against the doubts expressed by Protestant scholars.

While Alonso Cano’s renderings of the Immaculate Conception evolved on the stylistic and compositional level, he continued to closely follow the rules set out by the painter and art critic, Francisco Pacheco, during his career. He transposed Pacheco’s words into masterpieces on canvas and superb sculptures, which were especially appreciated by artists such as José de Mora and Pedro de Mena. In his ‘Arte de la Pintura’, Pacheco specified how to paint an Immaculate Conception: the Virgin Mary should be “pretty, in the flower of her youth, dainty, with a perfect nose and mouth, and blushing cheeks, with beautiful long tresses, wearing a white tunic and blue cloak, crowned with stars...”.

Cano’s holy women underwent a transformation, from static figures in the early 1620s to extremely mobile matrons, at the end of his career.

Sibylla Goegebuer