Image: Nativity of mary

Description: nativity of mary, oil on canvas, 101x142cm, Based on canvas and paint analyses, this picture was painted in the 17th century. An actual birth is portrayed, with a newborn beholding the light of the world for the first time; the rays of sunshine all but dissolve the child in an impressionistic manner. The whole picture is painted in bright colours. The location: Inside a convent, with a view and a Franciscan nun (a novice?) in service hurrying past. The older woman in the middle appears to be the Abbess; on the right a richly-jewelled woman from a noble house; on the left, the housekeeper with keys. If we associate the Abbess with Jeronima de la Fuente, the picture can be categorised both in terms of time and place: For the latter as the Convento de Santa Isabel de los Reyes in Toledo - perhaps in memory of Jeronima - , where charitable help was offered in particular to newborns and small children, where even Queen Margaret got involved in helping. Or as the Franciscan convent in Sevilla, where Jeronima had a wait for departure to Manila, where Velazquez painted her portrait. The Clarissan convent in Manila, founded by Jeronima, which only accepted young women of Spanish descent and from good families, could also be a possibility; locals were only allowed to help there. However, the utensils in the foreground are typically Sevillian, in particular the Brasero encendido (brazier). The markedly matriarchal character is striking: only women are portrayed, and in the addition, for the viewer, all at one height; social differences are set aside, at the moment of the birth all help equally. The four elements can be found tucked away: fire (burning coals, heat), water (bath, cleaning, baptism), air (fluttering veils), earth (earthly birth). In the foreground, a realistic birth that does, however, record the scene in that moment impressionistically. In the Spain of the 17th century, there was only one single artist who could have mastered such a complex presentation.
Title: Nativity of mary
Credit: Own work
Author: Pianobits
Usage Terms: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0
License: CC BY-SA 4.0
License Link: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Attribution Required?: Yes