Esteva and Co.

ESTEVA Y CÍA., Barcelona, ca. 1900.
"Virgin of La Merced".
Plafón of golden stucco.
Stamp and numbering on the left side.
It presents marks of use, wear and faults, as well as restorations.
Measurements: 120 x 52 x 15 cm.

Plafon of gilded stucco manufactured in the Barcelona workshops of Casa Esteva y Cia. It represents the Virgin of La Merced with the Child Jesus. The Child holds the scapular, characteristic symbol of this Marian devotion. The soffit combines high and bas-relief, and the undulating qualities of the garments denote its full belonging to Catalan modernism. Also the way of resolving the floral friezes and the delicacy of the faces is characteristic of this movement.

The Casa Esteva y Cía. of Barcelona, was active between the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and they worked as designers for prominent figures of the time, such as Pablo Gargallo. Currently, pieces of this firm are preserved in outstanding collections such as the National Museum of Art of Catalonia.

The Virgin of Mercy is the patron saint of captives, not only physical but also spiritual captives, and of all those who have been marginalized by society. Her devotion has its origin in Catalonia. The Order of Mercy was founded around her, initiated by Saint Peter Nolasco at the beginning of the 13th century. It was precisely the Mercedarian monks who spread her cult throughout Spain, France and Italy from that date onwards. The iconography for the representations of the Virgin of Mercy acquires its definitive form in the 16th century, which in the Baroque period drifts towards more dynamic representations, with breaks of glory.