Peru, Cuzco School
18th century
Oil on canvas
Height 72" (182.9 cm); width 51" (129.5 cm) including frame
Provenance: California private collection
This large scale Peruvian colonial painting depicts the Virgin of Carmel standing with the scapular in her right hand, while Saints Joseph and Anne open her cape to shelter Saints Gertrude and Teresa of Ávila below. The Christ Child passes the brown scapular, a symbol of the Carmelite confraternity, to his grandmother Saint Anne in an intimate familial gesture that departs from the more formal conventions of the subject. The Blessed Virgin of Carmel was venerated for her promise to save those who wore the scapular from hell and to shorten their time in purgatory.
Saints Gertrude of Helfta and Teresa of Ávila are depicted here as youthful figures rather than the elder women they were in life, Gertrude holding a heart bearing the image of the Christ Child and Teresa holding a flaming heart. Gertrude's writings were widely received in Spain, and Teresa of Ávila chose Gertrude as her model; the two are frequently paired in colonial Peruvian painting, their feast days celebrated with particular ceremony. The composition includes Joseph with his flowering staff, angels crowning the Virgin, and Mary wearing pearls and an elaborately gilded Carmelite gown, together creating an atmosphere of celebration and abundance rather than asceticism.
The overall effect of the painting reflects a deliberate pastoral and festive interpretation of the subject, designed to make Catholicism accessible and appealing to a new audience of indigenous Peruvian converts. The large scale, warm palette, and accumulation of celebratory detail are characteristic of 18th century Peruvian colonial painting produced for church and private chapel display. The work is in good condition retaining its original canvas and period frame.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Peru, Cuzco School
18th century
Oil on canvas
Height 72" (182.9 cm); width 51" (129.5 cm) including frame
Provenance: California private collection
This large scale Peruvian colonial painting depicts the Virgin of Carmel standing with the scapular in her right hand, while Saints Joseph and Anne open her cape to shelter Saints Gertrude and Teresa of Ávila below. The Christ Child passes the brown scapular, a symbol of the Carmelite confraternity, to his grandmother Saint Anne in an intimate familial gesture that departs from the more formal conventions of the subject. The Blessed Virgin of Carmel was venerated for her promise to save those who wore the scapular from hell and to shorten their time in purgatory.
Saints Gertrude of Helfta and Teresa of Ávila are depicted here as youthful figures rather than the elder women they were in life, Gertrude holding a heart bearing the image of the Christ Child and Teresa holding a flaming heart. Gertrude's writings were widely received in Spain, and Teresa of Ávila chose Gertrude as her model; the two are frequently paired in colonial Peruvian painting, their feast days celebrated with particular ceremony. The composition includes Joseph with his flowering staff, angels crowning the Virgin, and Mary wearing pearls and an elaborately gilded Carmelite gown, together creating an atmosphere of celebration and abundance rather than asceticism.
The overall effect of the painting reflects a deliberate pastoral and festive interpretation of the subject, designed to make Catholicism accessible and appealing to a new audience of indigenous Peruvian converts. The large scale, warm palette, and accumulation of celebratory detail are characteristic of 18th century Peruvian colonial painting produced for church and private chapel display. The work is in good condition retaining its original canvas and period frame.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
