Allegory of the Immaculate Conception

The dogma of the Immaculate Conception claims that, although Saint Anne and Saint Joachim conceived Mary through a carnal relationship, the Virgin is free from the so-called original sin. Images that illustrate this idea abound in colonial art and were tools for the defense of dogma by Franciscans and Jesuits.

The apocryphal protoevangelium of James, written between the 2nd and 4th centuries, is the oldest source in which the idea of the immaculate conception of the Virgin can be traced. Thanks to it, from the 4th century, began the spreading of the idea that from the moment of her conception, Mary was free from original sin. Thus, in some Marian images from Hispanic America, as it is the case of this canvas of the Colonial Museum, it is common for the Immaculate to appear accompanied by her parents, Saint Joachim and Saint Anne, to give strength to the idea that supports the dogma.

In the upper part of this painting, the Trinity —Father, Son and Holy Spirit— can be seen surrounding the Virgin. These figures are seated above clouds among which angels and cherubs flutter.

In the center of the composition, the Virgin can be seen as a young woman dressed in the traditional colors of the Immaculate Conception: blue and white. In her right hand, Mary holds a mirror, a symbol of purity, because according to the Lauretan Litanies, the mother of Jesus Christ is a mirror of justice, since all the virtues are gathered in her; or a mirror without stain, since God was reflected in it without altering its purity in the same way that an image is projected in a mirror without altering it.

In most representations of the Immaculate Conception, the Virgin is presented stepping on the head of a dragon or serpent, a symbol of sin. In this case, Mary stands on a snake that surrounds a circle in which an episode from Genesis is evoked.

Although in many cultures the snake is a benevolent animal, in Christian iconography it is the representation of evil, more exactly, of the devil, that with his rhetoric tempted Eve to eat an apple from the Tree of Knowledge. This resulted, as seen in the interior scene, in the expulsion of the woman, and her husband, Adam, from Paradise, giving rise to the concept of original sin, which, according to beliefs, fell on all mankind, with the exception of the Virgin.