The Virgin of the Immaculate Conception
Not on view
The pose indicates the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception. A fuller rendering of the type would feature a crescent moon beneath her feet, following the iconography drawn from Revelation. The belief was embraced with particular enthusiasm in Spain and her colonial empire. An enormous number of ivory images of the Virgin were produced in the Philippines and many, like this example, show her robe distinctively tucked in back. The back of her head and hair were carved separately to permit the insertion of glass eyes, a realistic touch found in much Spanish devotional sculpture.
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