Immaculate Conception, Pierrot di Cosimo – description of the painting

Description of the picture:

Immaculate Conception – Piero di Cosimo. Around 1505. Oil on wood. 206 x 172 cm

The order for the production of this canvas came from the Florentine merchant Francesco Pugliez. When writing, Piero di Cosimo set himself two simple goals. It was necessary to depict mythical motifs, clothed them in a divine form. In Italy of the 15th century, biblical subjects were considered similar motifs. It was from there that young artists drew inspiration, who wanted to leave their mark.

The work was written for four months. At the same time, Pierrot never left his own workshop. The hired boys brought food and paint to him, who receive a good monetary reward for their work. The night bucket could not be made all the time writing a masterpiece, so that, in the whole workshop there was a rotten stench of human waste.

For the picture, Pierrot got the right to be exhibited in the palace of Pugliez, after which, the career of the artist went uphill. The painting “The Immaculate Conception” is included in the cycle “Biblical Myths”, with which the entire palace was decorated by order of the merchant.

Subtle details

The number of angels carries a diabolical number. During the era of Italian masters of the second wave, there was a sign: even numbers were equated with the divine principle, odd ones – with the devil offspring. Pierrot specially painted seventeen angels, although in order for the picture to have a different meaning, it was only necessary to remove one.

“Immaculate Conception” is made in obscura style. There is only one pronounced center figure. All the other edges of the picture seem to lead to the center. The image of the Virgin Mary is linear in the shape of a cross. The clouds and shadows of the angels were drawn with a double stroke."