LUIS DE VARGAS (Sevilla, h. 1505 - 1567)

The Virgin of the pear Oil on panel Table: 186 x 97 / Frame: 224 x 138 cm It has an important frame in carved and gilded wood in the neo-Gothic style. This work shows clear stylistic characteristics that allow us to recognize it as belonging to the Sevillian school of the mid-sixteenth century and, furthermore, to consider it the work of the painter Luis de Vargas (1503 - 1568), who would have painted it around 1560. The physical type of the Virgin and especially the expression of her face, is totally characteristic of Luis de Vargas, who during long years in Italy, mainly in Rome, had moved in the circle of painters who followed the style of Raphael. From them Vargas derived classical elegance and a sense of a kindly and serene beauty. The figure of the Child and especially the expression of his face are also typical and characteristic of the Sevillian artist, who in this case was able to admirably resolve the rest of his infantile anatomy. Other technical details of this painting reveal Vargas's authorship, such as the marked execution of the drawing in the making of the folds of the Virgin's tunic and mantle. _x000D_. The iconographic meaning of this painting is very important, since the appearance of the crescent moon at Mary's feet clearly indicates that she is represented under the invocation of the Immaculate Conception. For this reason she is dressed in a white tunic and blue mantle according to the vision that the Blessed Beatriz de Silva had had, who saw the Virgin dressed in these colours. This blessed founded the Order of the Immaculate Conception in 1454. Given its large dimensions, this panel may have been the centrepiece of an altarpiece which, given its date, must have been one of the first representations of the Immaculate Conception in Sevillian art. At least to our knowledge, there is no other work with this iconography before it. Attached is a certificate issued by Enrique Valdivieso González, professor of Art History at the University of Seville.