PROPERTY FROM THE DON BENITO J. LEGARDA JR. COLLECTION

ABOUT THE WORK

A fine example of the Bicol Inmaculada , the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception, was offered in the last Leon auction. That piece was attired in the royal court dress of the 16th century. This auction’s offering is another Virgin from the Bicol school. But this time, she is dressed in the simple, flowing Hebrea/Hebrew style consisting of a simple pleated tunic and a mantle. The remaining polychromy on the piece shows that the tunic and mantle were painted in the traditional white and blue associated with Mary. This santo has all the highlights of religious carvings associated with the early Bicol and Laguna sculptors. Note the full and voluminous use of the hardwood. The detailed work on the angel and clouds on the base and on the face and hair of the virgin. On the cloak, we also find the familiar S-shaped treatment of the folds, suggesting that the fabric is billowing in the celestial winds that bear the Virgin up. The most endearing feature is the face, now stripped of the encarna paint. The fullness of the features, the tiny pursed lips, the perfect oval shape of the face, the high forehead and averted eyes suggest not a Hebrew matron, but an exotic, reserved India, an indigenous Mary. The piece would have stood on a flat plinth, now lost. The original peg can still be seen under the sculpture. To make the piece stand, a contemporary base was designed, perhaps by Don Benito himself.