The Immaculate Conception

Miguel Jacinto Meléndez (Oviedo 1679 – Madrid 1736). Oil painting on canvas, The Immaculate Conception, by Miguel Jacinto Meléndez (1679–1736), signed and dated: bottom left, [Maltese Cross symbol] MCL. MEz. Pr. Rs. Ft. A. dt 1731 Matriti 1731. Records the artist's position as painter to King Philip V. The Virgin or Madonna, full-length, standing in the clouds surrounded by putti holding flowers, wearing white robes with a blue-green cloak, a dove hovers over her head, appears over the sickle moon which two cherubs decorate with flowers. The symbols of the Immaculate Conception are included: the lily, the olive and the speculum sine macula. Derived from paintings of this subject by Carreño de Miranda, in Vittoria Cathedral, the Church of the Incarnation in Madrid, or that in the Hispanic Society, New York and also inspired by the Seville artist Murillo. Shugborough Estate, Staffordshire