"Alegoría de la virgen Inmaculada"

This piece is a central document to understand the Spanish Immaculate movement, reflected in the procession that took place in Seville to defend the June 29th 1615 dogma. In that procession, all the stratums of the city participated, proclaiming that the Virgin was conceived without the original sin, joining in to an event that was taking place all around Spain, with Phillip II patronage. Canvas of complex composition, it has in the center the figure of the Virgin with spread arms, surrounded in different levels by angels that carry the litanies of the Virgin, as well as by prophets, saints and fathers of the Church that at some point, had defended the idea of the Immaculate Conception. Over Mary, and to top the painting, the king of stars and the Lamb of God. The celestial area is joined to the Earth through a tree in which, starting from the symbol of the Franciscan Order - the greatest defender of the Immaculate Conception-, to the royal coat of arms, ovals with the names of the Marian saints can be seen. The worldly area constitutes a precious example of social painting where among the cramped crowd; we can see children, schoolboys singing, priests, authorities, and men and women entering the Cathedral of Seville.