The Immaculate Conception

The depiction of the Virgin Mary in this context is taken from the Book of Revelations, where it describes "a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet." 

Murillo is best known for his religious works, but also produced a considerable number of paintings of contemporary women and children. The rich colors and softly modeled forms of Murillo's work suggest the influence of seeing the works of Velazquez and Francisco de Palacios.  Following the completion of a pair of pictures for the Seville Cathedral, he began to specialize in the themes that brought him his greatest successes: the Virgin and Child and the Immaculate Conception.

La Immaculada Concepción was painted by the Spanish Baroque artist Bartolomé Esteban Murillo. There are several works of art with this title in El Prado Museum; this one is nearly 108 x 75 inches long. The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception holds that the Virgin Mary, the pure vessel that would carry Jesus Christ, was conceived without original sin. The Holy Roman Catholic Church teaches that, from her conception, Mary had been given the graces that are usually bestowed through baptism after a child's birth.