Escuela Cuzqueña Siglo XVIII - Virgen de la Candelaria de Copacabana

Virgin of the Candelaria of Copacabana, of Cuzqueño tradition, attributed to the 18th century. Anonymous author. Oil on canvas.

The composition presents the crowned Virgin, holding a candle and the Child Jesus, who bears the globe. Two cherubs and curtains frame the scene. The broad triangular mantle, decorated with floral motifs, vegetal friezes, and painted pearl garlands, stands out, along with abundant gilded ornamentation.

The frontal arrangement of the figures and the ornamental treatment of the vestments link the composition to devotional models of Andean painting of Cuzqueño tradition.

On the stretcher there is a handwritten inscription stating “Cuzqueña School of the XVII,” mentioning its purchase in Arequipa, Peru, and indicating that the stretcher was placed in Madrid. The proposed dating embraces this attribution and its stylistic characteristics; it does not constitute a historically documented date.

The canvas is re-stretched and mounted on a later stretcher. It shows craquelure, surface irregularities, wear, and small losses of paint layer, visible especially at the edges and in some points of the composition. The general and close-up photographs allow assessment of its condition.

Measurements: 75 cm high × 50 cm wide. It is presented without a frame.