Virgin of Solitude

1705

Luisa Roldán called La Roldana, Spanish, 1652-1706

On View

European, Level 2, South Wing

Virgin of Solitude: 1 of Collection Gallery

Virgin of Solitude: 2 of Collection Gallery

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Catalogue Raisonné

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Credit Line for Reproduction

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About the Artwork

Within an elaborate framework of architecture and clouds, the Virgin Mary kneels alone. Tiny sculpted tears roll down her cheek as she mourns the death of her son, Jesus. With its skillful use of terracotta, intimate scale, and solemn emotional tenor, this artwork exemplifies the qualities that Spanish baroque sculptor Luisa Roldán was praised for by her contemporaries.
The only relief known by Roldán, who is best known for her work in the round, it represents a widely venerated but now lost sculpture of the Virgin of Solitude by Gaspar Becerra (1520 – 1570). The statue stood on the altar in the monastery church of Our Lady of Victory in Madrid and functioned as a focal image of the Confraternity of Our Lady of Solitude and of Anguish, a devotional brotherhood that enjoyed royal patronage. Through innovative framing and once-vibrant polychromy applied by her brother-in-law and collaborator, Tomás de los Arcos, Roldán reconceived this famous statue as a heavenly vision for private devotion. The artist proudly announced her elevated role by signing the relief with her title: escultora de cámara (royal sculptor).

Title Virgin of Solitude

Artwork Date 1705

Artist Luisa Roldán

Life Dates Spanish

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. Spanish

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. ----------

Medium Terracotta, paint, glass, wood

Dimensions Unframed: 15 × 10 1/4 inches (38.1 × 26 cm) Framed: 23 1/4 × 18 1/2 × 5 1/4 inches (59.1 × 47 × 13.3 cm)

Classification Sculpture

Department European Sculpture and Dec Arts

Credit Museum Purchase, Funds from the Joseph M. DeGrimme Memorial Fund and Robert H. Tannahill Foundation Fund

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 2018.33

Markings

Signed Signed and dated: D.A LVISA ROLDAN ESCVLTORA DE CAMARA DE SVS MAD.DES 1705

Provenance

Conde de Adanero (Madrid);
(Colnaghi, London, England);
(Fred Huston, London, England);
2018-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

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Exhibition History

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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

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Published References

Lenaghan, Patrick. “Luisa Roldán’s Virgin of Solitude (Virgen de la Soledad): Art and Religion in Madrid.” Bulletin of the DIA 94, no. 1 (2020): pp. 54-73 (fig. 1-3).

Hall-van den Elsen, Catherine. Luisa Roldán. London, 2021, p. 123; p. 126 (fig. 88).

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Catalogue Raisoneé

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Credit Line for Reproduction

Luisa Roldán, Virgin of Solitude, 1705, terracotta, paint, glass, wood. Detroit Institute of Arts, Museum Purchase, Funds from the Joseph M. DeGrimme Memorial Fund and Robert H. Tannahill Foundation Fund, 2018.33.