Andalusian School; XVII century.

Andalusian School; XVII century.
"Dolorosa".
Oil on canvas.
Presents faults and Repainting on the pictorial surface.
Measurements: 48 x 37 cm; 61 x 50 cm (frame).
Devotional image in which the image of the Virgin is represented inscribed in a dark background in whose inferior zone a legend that says "Elluam ipfus anima pertamfivit gladius" can be appreciated.
The devotion to the sorrows of the Virgin has its roots in medieval times, and was especially spread by the Servite order, founded in 1233. There are many and varied iconographic representations that have as central theme the Virgin Mary in her Sorrowful aspect, being the first of them in which she appears next to the Child Jesus, who sleeps oblivious to the future of suffering that awaits him. In these works is usually present the cross, the main symbol of the Passion, embraced even by the Child, while Mary observes him with a pathetic expression. Another aspect is the one that is part of the Pietà, similar to the previous one, although her Son is here dead, not asleep, depicted as an adult and after his crucifixion. In the oldest representations of this theme, the body of Christ appears disproportionately small, as a symbol of the memory that the mother has of her Son's childhood, when she contemplated him asleep on her lap.