The Immaculate Conception

Image credit: The National Gallery, London

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Crivelli painted this unusual image of the Virgin standing alone with no Christ Child for the church of San Francesco, Pergola, a little town in the north of the Italian Marche. The Virgin is depicted in a particular role, surrounded by symbols and texts that express the idea that she was conceived ‘Immaculate’ – that is, without original sin.

She stands in a marble niche against a burnished gold ground, indicating that she is in heaven. Two angels hover above her head, carrying a banner with the words, ‘As from the beginning I was conceived in the mind of God, so have I in like manner been conceived in the flesh’. At the top of the painting, God the Father looks down from the blue cloud of heaven, his right hand raised immediately above the dove of the Holy Ghost, which floats down to the Virgin on golden rays.

The National Gallery, London

London

Title

The Immaculate Conception

Date

1492

Medium

Egg on wood

Measurements

H 194.3 x W 93.3 cm

Accession number

NG906

Acquisition method

Bought, 1874

Work type

Painting

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The National Gallery, London

Trafalgar Square, London, Greater London WC2N 5DN England

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