We present this new image of the Inmaculada pregnant made in resin with alabaster finish. The image, through small modeling details, which could seem casual, hides a great symbolic meaning about the Virgin Mary, her Immaculate Conception and her Divine Maternity.
THE INTIMACY OF THE IMMACULATE
The image portrays a moment of Mary's intimacy: the Virgin, a little more than 8 months pregnant, meditates in her heart on the events that are happening in her life: the unexpected visit of the angel, the extraordinary meeting with her cousin Elizabeth, the imminent birth... events not free of obstacles and worries: Now they must march to Bethlehem which is 3 days' journey away... there is a serene concern on the face of this Immaculate, who keeps in the depths of her soul all these things, abandoning them to the will of her father.
The base has the inscription in the outline: "thou hast borne in thy bosom him whom the heavens cannot contain."This prayer is taken from the Chaplet of Mary by St. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort, a saint known for his great devotion to the Virgin Mary, from whom St. John Paul II took the well-known motto ".Totus tuus".
The image has been modeled mainly in plaster and plastic clay: plaster for the sketched areas, providing an impressionist style finish (see the dresses, the cloth...) and plastic clay for the areas of greater detail, facilitating the appearance of soft and realistic shapes in the hands, face, hair and feet.
Juan Carlos, sculptor, next to the sculpture.
SYMBOLISM OF THE IMMACULATE
This representation of the pregnant Mother of God is a modern reinterpretation of the Immaculate Conception, with the attributes that have traditionally been associated with this invocation of the Virgin. These attributes are none other than those found in chapter 12 of the Apocalypse:
"And a great sign appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and a crown of twelve stars upon her head; and she was with child, and cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered" Revelation, 12
A woman dressed in sun
The apocalypse speaks of a woman clothed in the sun, luminous and resplendent. The carving conveys this clarity in Mary's virginal face and, above all, in her womb, marked by outlined rays that help us to intuit that a great light is flowing from there. Mary's illuminated womb anticipates the coming of Christ, light of the world.
With the moon as a pedestal
Tradition has represented the Immaculate Conception on a crescent moon. At the feet of this Immaculate we do not find this crescent, as usual, but a circular base that represents the real lunar surface, with its plains and craters. For this it has been necessary to study the lunar floor: its craters, in the form of a ring, with a base and a central peak, and the seas, or flat areas.
Crowned by twelve stars
The stars, like the moon and the sun, are a symbol of knowledge. Their presence underscores the invocation of Mary as the Throne of Wisdom. In addition, the number of stars, twelve, is also significant; it appears numerous times in the Bible as a symbol of completeness, of eternal perfection. Twelve were the tribes of Israel, twelve were the apostles chosen by Jesus to lead his Church, twelve stones in the breastplate of the high priest, representing Israel. Twelve are also the number of stars that the Immaculate has around her face and, in the case of this carving, set in the hair, adorning it.
Pregnant and in labor pains
This sculpture of the Immaculate Conception portrays the Virgin in her eighth month of pregnancy, which required an anatomical study of the woman during gestation by the artist. The birth is already close, so the belly is high and the Child is already positioned for the delivery. The virgin looks tired, her feet are swollen and she must already feel the weight of the Child, who is about to come out. Juan Carlos, the artist, tells us his intention in showing all these human traits of Mary: "I would like every woman who has experienced motherhood to be able to identify with the Virgin, knowing that she experienced the joys and discomforts of pregnancy, even the fear of childbirth, like any other woman. In fact, that any Christian can identify with her because we are all, in some way, bearers of Christ, at the same time that we all want to find ourselves in the womb of our mother, the Church". In this sense, this piece of sacred art representing Mary pregnant is, at the same time, the image of the Church.
