Virgin of Pilar; Spain, 18th century.

Virgin of Pilar; Spain, XVIII century.
Silver.
Presents punches.
Weight: 857 g.
Loss of one of the stars in the crown.
Measurements: 42 x 8,5 x 8,5 cm.

Image of the Virgin of Pilar entirely made in silver, combining different techniques. The figure is cast in mold, with cold chiseled details, as well as the rich halo of rays that surrounds her head. The mantle and the shaft of the base. Finally, the base is adorned with a chiseled crown of leaves.
The iconography of the Virgin of the Pilar, patron saint of the Hispanic world, has its origin in the tradition that narrates the apparition of Mary in Zaragoza on a column. This story is based on 13th century documents preserved in the cathedral of Zaragoza, in which it is said that in the year 40 the Virgin appeared to Santiago el Mayor in that city, "in mortal flesh", before her Assumption. As a testimony of her visit she would have left a column of jasper popularly known as "the Pillar". The carving that gave rise to the iconography of the Virgin of the Pilar is a work of late Gothic French-Burgundian style from around 1435, attributed to Juan de la Huerta.
From the emblem on the pillar, this image would have been commissioned by a member of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, whose current name is the Sovereign Military and Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Rhodes and Malta. A military religious order founded around the 11th century, it survives today as an honorary institution. It was the most important of the military orders, both for its geographical extension and its duration. Its origin is still under discussion, but it is known that it existed before the Crusades, and that it was founded by a certain Gerard, initially as a hospice.