Artwork
La Virgen con santos y ángeles
La Virgen con santos y ángeles is an oil painting by the Early Baroque Italian artist Pedro Atanasio Bocanegra. It dates from 1601 and is held in the collection of the Museo del Prado.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The painting is a religious composition centered on the Virgin Mary with the Christ Child, surrounded by saints and angels.
The painting is a religious composition centered on the Virgin Mary with the Christ Child, surrounded by saints and angels. According to its cataloguing, the work depicts Mary, the Madonna and Child, and Jesus Christ, accompanied by the saints Catherine of Alexandria, Agnes of Rome, and Saint Ursula, with angels completing the heavenly retinue typical of Spanish devotional imagery of the period.
The grouping unites the Virgin and Child with three virgin martyrs drawn from early Christian tradition, a configuration commonly used to evoke spiritual purity, martyrdom, and the protection of the faithful. The presence of angels reinforces the celestial setting, framing the sacred figures as objects of veneration and emphasizing the intercessory role attributed to the Virgin and her companions in Counter-Reformation devotional practice.
Technique & Style
The work titled La Virgen con santos y ángeles is an oil painting on canvas created in 1601. Its support is a canvas substrate, and the composition measures 187 centimeters in height by 332 centimeters in width. The painting depicts the Virgin Mary surrounded by the Child Jesus, Saint Catherine of Alexandria, Saint Agnes of Rome and Saint Ursula, figures associated with Counter‑Reformation devotional imagery.
Executed in oil paint, the piece exemplifies the naturalistic modeling and rich coloration typical of early Spanish Baroque religious art. It belongs to the collection of the Museo del Prado, where it is displayed in its original gallery setting.
History & Provenance
Pedro Atanasio Bocanegra painted La Virgen con santos y ángeles in 1601, employing oil on canvas as recorded in the artist’s catalogue entry. The work measures 187 cm by 332 cm and portrays the Virgin Mary with the Christ Child alongside saints Catherine of Alexandria, Agnes of Rome, and Saint Ursula.
It entered the collection of the Museo del Prado, where it remains on display, indicating a continuous ownership chain from its creation to the present. Documentation of the commissioning circumstances is absent, and no earlier ownership records have been identified.
Overview
This oil painting, titled La Virgen con santos y ángeles, was created by Pedro Atanasio Bocanegra in 1601. It presents a religious scene centered on the Virgin Mary and the infant Jesus. The work is currently housed in the collection of the Museo del Prado, where it represents an example of early 17th-century Spanish religious art.
Artist & collection
Artist
Pedro Atanasio Bocanegra (1638–1689) was an artist, born in Granada.
- The Virgin with Saints
The Virgin and Child in Glory
Mistic Marriage of Saint Catherine
Mystische Verlobung der Hl. Katharina
Virgin with child in a wreath of flowers
Madonna of the people
Virgin with child and saints Maria Magdalen, Cecilia, Dorothea, Catharina and Augustine
The Mystical Betrothal of Saint Catherine
The Rest on The Flight into Egypt
The Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist in a Landscape
The Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine