Cleveland Museum of Art
The Immaculate Conception
Ignaz GüntherLinkedCulture matchlcp-30c100cc4454
- Date
- c. 1770
- Medium
- painted and gilded wood
- Culture
- Germany, Munich, 18th century
- Department
- European Painting and Sculpture
- Institution
- Cleveland Museum of Art
- Object ID
- 139493
From the Cleveland Museum of Art record
The Christian doctrine of the Immaculate Conception maintains that the Virgin Mary was conceived free from sin, ready to be the pure vessel for Christ’s birth. Depicting such an abstract idea required specific imagery. The moon beneath the Virgin’s feet, for example, comes from the New Testament vision of Saint John the Evangelist (Revelation 12:1) of “a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet,” while the serpent upon which she treads symbolizes Christ’s triumph over original sin. With his characteristically delicate modeling, elongated proportions, and soft coloring, Ignaz Günther created an archetypal image of innocence on the cusp of womanhood.
The authoritative record is held by Cleveland Museum of Art. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.
Get printable QR codesHide QR codes
Open QR codes for this object page and the museum record. They stay collapsed until needed.
Provenance & credit
As published by the source institution. Coverage varies — not every institution's open-data feed includes ownership history.
- Credit line
- Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund
- Provenance
- Private collection, Munich (sold, Weinmüller, Munich, December 5-6, 1962, lot no. 1149, to Kurt Rossacher) | Kurt Rossacher (Salzburg, Austria), sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1963.
Related across collections
Semantically similar works from Cleveland Museum of Art and other institutions.