Christ on the Cross with the Immaculate Conception
María Josefa Sánchez, Spain, 17th Century
Signed and dated 1646
Cell crucifix, Oil on panel
63 x 39 cm
Provenance
Private Collection
The cell crosses were devotional objects very numerous in Spanish and Spanish colonial convents and monasteries. This devotional Cross is exceptional as it is dated and signed by Josefa Sánchez...
The cell crosses were devotional objects very numerous in Spanish and Spanish colonial convents and monasteries.
This devotional Cross is exceptional as it is dated and signed by Josefa Sánchez in 1646.
The panel has the form of a Cross. Christ is painted in agony and an Immaculate Virgin is depicted in the lower part of the Cross. She has beautiful long, curly hair, a white dress and a very rich and ornate mantle.
Until now the information of Josefa Sánchez is very brief. She was active as a painter in the second quarter of the 17th century. She was deeply inspired by the ascetic naturalist Crucifixes by Luis Tristán. It is possible that she was from Castilla, maybe she was a nun and she was related to the painter Clemente Sánchez.