Virgin; Andalusian school, second half of the 18th century.Carved, gilded and polychrome wood, with glass eyes.Measures: 76 x 28 x 19 cm.In this work of devotional character, the author presents the image of the Virgin as the protagonist, standing on a pedestal of classicist aesthetics, in which a set of clouds is arranged, among which a quarter of a crescent moon can be seen, which serves as a support for the Virgin. The carving represents the Virgin Mary with one of her hands on her chest, while she directs the other slightly to the right, thus opening one of her arms to the faithful. From her white tunic and blue mantle, together with the presence of the moon, the angels and the snake biting the apple, it is evident that this is the invocation of the Immaculate Conception. Medieval Christianity passionately debated the belief that Mary had been conceived without stain of original sin. Some universities and corporations swore to defend this privilege of the Mother of God, several centuries before the First Vatican Council defined the dogma of faith in 1854.Given the importance given to religious images in the Hispanic world, during the 17th and 18th centuries ambitious pictorial series and extensive iconographic programs were created for churches and convents, as well as printed prints, medals and reliquaries for private devotion. As a whole, regardless of their size or support, these images fulfilled the objective of sacralizing daily life beyond the altars. The theme of the Immaculate Conception, very frequent in Spanish art from the 17th century on, came to constitute one of the national identity signs of Spain as a Catholic country. It is one of the most genuinely local themes of Spanish Baroque painting, since our country was the main defender of this mystery, and the one that fought most insistently to make it a dogma of faith. In this context, numerous artists and intellectuals worked to build a clear iconography that would help spread the Immaculate Conception, bringing together symbolism and popular fervor. Based on the previous advances of painters such as Juan de Juanes, it was Murillo who constructed the definitive image of the Immaculate Conception, finding a formula that allowed him to bring together in one image all the necessary traits of the Immaculate Conception.Within this panorama, the leading role played by the Andalusian school of sculpture during the period that has come to be called the Golden Age is evident; to it belong a series of masters of unquestionable worth who knew how to combine in their works the extraordinary technical quality and religious depth. from the first decades of the century, masters of different origins began to come constantly to the city in search of the American market and the potential Sevillian clientele, increasingly attracted by the new artistic forms arriving from Italy. Italian, French and Flemish masters, with varying degrees of knowledge of the new aesthetics, alternate with artists from Castilian lands, who have also come into contact with the prevailing artistic currents in the Italian peninsula, thus becoming the most sought after in the art market. The teachings of all of them, together with the classical substratum inherent to the Andalusian culture itself, will constitute the foundations on which the Andalusian sculptural school will be built.