io The Immaculate Conception 1767 Oil on canvas 63.7 x 38.9 cm (25/8 x 15% in.) The Samuel Courtauld Trust at the Courtauld Institute Gallery, Courtauld Institute of Art, London; inv. 451 PROVENANCE Fitzgerald. 1923-1967, twelfth baron Piovene and Pallucchini 1968, 134-3$, Probably retained by Giambattista Kinnaird; sold to Count Antoine fig. 299b; Seilern 1969, 29, pi. XXII; Tiepolo in his studio; upon his death, Seilern (1901-1978), London, 1967; by Rizzi 1971, 1:143, I50> figs- 8$-86; probably by inheritance to his son, bequest to the Home House Trustees Knox 1980, 1:328; Braham 1981, 77, Giandomenico Tiepolo (1727-1804); for the Courtauld Institute of Art, fig. 112, pi. XIV; Levey 1986, 273-76, probably sold to Francisco Bayeu University of London, 1978. 279, fig. 229; Farr 1987, 64-6$; (1734-179$), Madrid, 1770-9$; upon Bradford and Braham 1989, 2$; Helston his death, held in trust by the estate; EXHIBITIONS 1989, $8-$9, fig. 12; Farr, Bradford, and sold to Leonardo Chopinot, Madrid, London i9$4-$$, no. 498; London Braham 1990, 68, 70 (illus.); Gemin i795—i8oo; by inheritance to his wife, 1963—64, no. $; London 1989, no. 12. and Pedrocco 1993, 492, fig. $2oa; 1800; George William Fox, ninth Christiansen 1996, 242, 244, 246—47, baron Kinnaird, Rossie Priory, Perth- BIBLIOGRAPHY fig. 4oa; Giambattista Tiepolo 1998, shire, by 1826-78; by inheritance to 117, 241, fig. 123; Whistler 1998, his grandson, Arthur Fitzgerald, Sack 1910, 226; Saltillo 1952, 76; Knox 71, 76-77, 84, fig. 14; Pedrocco 2002, 1878-1923, eleventh baron Kinnaird; 1955, 37-39, %• 12; Morassi I9$$a, 308-9, fig. 281.2.a; Derstein 200$. by inheritance to his son, Kenneth 37; Morassi I9$$b, n, fig. i; Watson 2 19$$, 262-63, fig- 96; Morassi 1962, 19; sTANDING ON A GLOBE AND A CRESCENT The handling of this work is immensely moon with a serpent squirming underfoot, sophisticated; it is largely painted in summary the Virgin Mary rises heavenward in a glowing, daubs of opaque pigment, with dark lines of yellowish ocher sky accompanied by a swarm paint defining the elaborate folds of the Virgin's of angels, putti, and cherubim. The only female complex drapery Tiepolo applied passages of protagonist in Tiepolo's series of altarpieces delicate glazes, especially in the lower half of in the church at Aranjuez, the Virgin also stands the sketch, such as in the rose cloth surrounding apart from the other saints because of her the putto at lower left. The lapis glaze of imposing monumentality and emotional distance. cherub's wings at right is an especially luxurious While the other works for San Pascual Baylon touch, speaking to the level of refinement of present ardent interactions between the saints these presentation modelli. and their visions or objects of prayer, this canvas Tiepolo brought a touching humanity to the offers an image of overwhelming grandeur. The historical figures depicted in the other paintings compositions of the other paintings unfold in the church, but for The Immaculate Conception along diagonals; in this one, the Virgin ascends he sought to represent, by contrast, an abstract in a commanding vertical and is the only figure theological idea, and for that reason the Virgin in the series to dominate the upper half of appears as an iconic, commanding figure. The the canvas. Without lowering her chin, she gazes Immaculate Conception—the belief that the grandly downward at the worshiper, and her Virgin Mary was born free of Original Sin — erect stance, abstracted pose with hands clasped would not become fully accepted Catholic in prayer, and blue mantle billowing outward dogma until 1854. But the Immaculate Conception create an image of stately, serene authority. had begun to be incorporated into Christian 68