Olot School, ca. 1920-1930.
"Immaculate Conception.
Plaster covered with polychrome paper pulp. Wooden base. Crown in gilded brass.
Measurements: 164 cm (height).
The dogma of the Immaculate defends that the Virgin was conceived without Original Sin, and it was defined and accepted by the Vatican in the Bull Ineffabilis Deus, of 8th December 1854. However, Spain and all the kingdoms under its political dominion defended this belief earlier. Iconographically, the representation takes texts both from the Apocalypse (12: "A great sign appeared in heaven, a woman wrapped in the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars") and from the Lauretan Litany recited after the rosary and containing epithets of Mary taken from King David's Song of Songs. Combining the two texts and following an evolution that began at the end of the Gothic period, we arrive at a very simple and recognisable typology that presents the Virgin on the lunar quarter, with the stars on her head and dressed in light (with a halo on her head only or all over her body), normally dressed in white and blue in allusion to purity and eternity (although she can also appear in red and blue, in relation then to the Passion), her hands on her breast almost always and generally depicted as a young woman.
Stylistically, the present work is clearly related to the Olotine school, as the technique of cardboard wood paste can be seen in it. This technique was an important improvement in the production of Olot sculptures because it speeded up casting times and resulted in lighter pieces with greater material strength. The Olot school of imagery has its roots in the fact that, around 1850, there was already a very important textile activity in the town of Olot (cotton workers, weavers, etc.) derived from the Indian industry. There was therefore already a developed craft base. The promoters of Christian art in Olot took advantage of this circumstance to create a new and flourishing sculpture industry during this period.