Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Description of the work

The image of the Virgen del Carmen de la Expectación is a life-size sculpture made in oil polychrome terracotta and glued fabrics. This sculptural technique was widely used in the 18th century in Seville, particularly with the sculptor Cristóbal Ramos (1725-1799) as the main artist.

Our image has the particularity that it is in a state of gestation, expectant, as the first tabernacle. As for the composition of the figure, it presents a classic contraposto, resting the weight of the body on her left leg, advancing the right. Her right hand delicately holds her belly, prominent due to the gestation of the Son of God, while her left hand, in a gesture of offering, carries the scapular of Carmel. This scapular is a manifestation of the protection of the Mother of God to her devotees. On July 16, 1251 the Virgin appeared to Saint Simon Stock, and told him: "Whoever dies with him will not suffer eternal fire".

The head of the beautiful image, crowned by a ring with twelve stars, shows a slight turn to the left and downward, with a serene gaze and a gesture of introspection and meditation, in memory of the words of St. Luke the Evangelist.

The polychrome of the image is made in oil, following the traditional techniques of the Spanish baroque imagery. It presents an ornamentation on the habit and mantle composed of a border of "rocaille" with "c" and "s" brackets. The scapular is further enriched by the drawing on the belly of the Latin inscription IHS ("iesus hominum salvator)" which comes to signify the presence of the Redeemer in his mother's womb.