Childhood of the Virgin

Zurbar�n’s exalted and naive piety and his close affinity with popular culture expressed themselves in his amazing gift as a colourist. The pure, bright, intensive hues of his paintings, most often dictated by Christian symbolism, seem automatically combined, yet they come together in unexpected poignant harmonies. Here, the red of Mary’s dress signifies love and charity; the white of the stitching purity and innocence; the green, youth and the enclosed garden of paradise, one more symbol of immaculacy.