The imposing Baroque style of the painting is meant to evoke emotion. It was completed between 1767 and 1768. The depiction of the
Virgin Mary is done according to traditional Christian iconography, and represents her
Immaculate Conception, free from original sin. Standard iconographic elements include the dove above her, the stars around her head, her position on the
crescent moon with a snake crushed under her feet, her hands held together in prayer, and the obelisk on her right. '', 1767,
Courtauld Institute of Art Additional
iconography which accords to this theme include clouds,
cherubs,
lilies and a pink rose, flowers which are often associated with Mary. The dove above her head symbolizes the
Holy Ghost, while the rose and the lilies are her customary symbols, lilies representing her purity, while the rose is the symbol for Mary, Queen of heaven and earth. Her
girdle should be the
cord of St. Francis. Tiepolo had painted an earlier version of the Immaculate Conception in 1734 for the Franciscan church of
Santa Maria in Araceli in
Vicenza. That version depicted the Virgin Mary as a beautiful young girl in the manner already established by
Guido Reni and
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo following Pacheco. The painting is now in Vicenza's civic museum at the
Palazzo Chiericati. In the present version the depiction of Mary is rather more majestic and solemn in keeping with the
Alcantarine tradition of austerity. ==Background==