Isabel de Valois, wife of
Felipe II, had in a private
oratory a painting representing the Virgin of the Solitude that she had brought with her from France. The image of the picture aroused great devotion in friars of the
Order of the Minims of San Francisco de Paula, who had settled in Madrid following in the footsteps of the monarch. The friars asked permission of the queen to have a copy of the image for the chapel of their
convent of Our Lady of Victory in Madrid. The image of Our Lady of Solitude was carved by the sculptor
Gaspar Becerra. From the beginning, the image was intended to be "
vestidera", with only the head and hands carved and the rest a wooden frame covered with clothes. It seems that on the initiative of the
Countess of Ureña,
Doña María de la Cueva y Toledo, the queen's main waitress, she wore her own outfit of a noble widow of the time; this characteristic attire added to other peculiarities – such as wearing a diadem in place of crown, and the symbols of the
Passion – constituted a true revolution in the typology of Marian images. In 1565, finally, after more than a year of work, the statue of Our Lady of Solitude was presented to the convent of Our Lady of Victory. ==Patroness==