Today is the feast of the Immaculate Conception and, if you're looking for inspirations reuniting art and religion in a modern way, check out Adolfo Wildt's "La Vergine" (The Virgin, executed circa 1925-1930).
The bas relief is a portrait of the Virgin Mary made with the purest white Carrara marble and giallo di Siena marble. Exhibited at the third Roman Biennale in 1925 in the Sacred Art section, the relief won its author critical and commercial attention with Wildt selling three versions of this artwork within the next two years. The piece was also exhibited in New York in 1926 at an exhibition of Italian Modern Art.
"Vergine", also known as "Testina di Maria" (Head of Mary), recalls one of Wildt's earliest marbles, his "Vedova" (Widow, 1892). That marble portrait of a woman with a scarf encircling her face was based on the features of the artist's wife, Dina Boschi, but was inspired by Antonio Canova's marble bust of a Vestal Virgin.
In his "Vergine", Wildt focused on the fragment of the face and represented Mary in a pensive expression, probably a reference to the sentence in the New Testament stating, "Mary treasured up all these things, and pondered them in her heart", after Jesus was born and the shepherds went to adore him.
The work is remarkable as it is characterised by soft forms and evocative shadows highlighted by the polished marble. The piece is currently part of a sculpture auction at Sotheby's that will open on 15th December (estimated: 40,000 – 60,000 GBP).
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