Paul Gauguin’s prints of Eve & Mary
Artist: Angelo Pellegrini (Rome, 1842–1867)
Date: ca. 1860
Title: Immaculate Conception and Symbols of the Evangelists (Madonna Immacolata e Simboli degli Evangelisti)
Last Seen in the U.S.: Never
Details: The Immaculate Conception is a name for the belief that Mary was always, from her conception, without original sin. The Immaculate Conception was made an official part of Catholic dogma in 1854, around the time Pellegrini created this sculpture. Artistic representations typically show Mary standing on a crescent moon and wearing a crown of twelve stars, imagery inspired by a vision of Mary as the Woman of the Apocalypse in the Bible’s Book of Revelation.
