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Europe » Primitive Virgin & Child with Jesus & Magdalene in the Garden
Ref: 4323
A primitive Spanish colonial oil on cloth in original condition and framed.
The subject matter in the foreground is interesting, Mary Magdalene comes upon Christ in the garden after the resurrection, at first mistaking him for a gardener until he calls her name. At this time Mary Magdalene was associated with Mary of Bethany from Luke 7:36 and regarded as a symbol of a fallen woman or a sinner, often portrayed as here beseeching for mercy and penitent. This would be an appropriate subject matter for a colonial work, aiming to send a condescending missionary message to the heathen who are conquered in their New World Eden.
This gives the work an interesting historical perspective for us looking now. But ironically what makes Spanish colonial art primarily appealing is (to the contrary) it’s chanced upon bringing together of cultural identities. As we see here, colonial art can be fresh, primitivistic and almost child-like in appearance as a consequence of it’s co-mixture of Western motif with local, non-European representational styles.
Spanish Colonial 17th or 18th cent
H: 59cm (23.2in)
W: 41cm (16.1in)
D: 8cm (3.1in)
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