Virgin and Child with a Spindle

religious

This painting is typically Spanish for its fervent pietism. The Infant is shown holding a spindle, referring to his attire at birth and at death, the miraculously expanding garment woven by his mother that lasted a short lifetime. The depth of emotion of the image is often found in Spanish religious art of later times.

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About the Artist

Luis de Morales

1520 – 1586

Spanish painter. He worked for most of his life in Badajoz, a town on the Portuguese border, and his style-formed away from the influence of the court or great religious and artistic centres such as Seville - is highly distinctive. His pictures are usually fairly small and he concentrated on devotional images. He painted numerous versions of the Virgin and Child, sometimes with the infant St John, and touching visions inspired by the theme Ecce Homo, which are among his most popular works. The piety of his work has earned him the nickname 'El Divino'. His style owes something to Netherlandish art, but his misty modelling seems to derive more from Leonardo da Vinci.

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