601. 17TH CENTURY CATALAN SCHOOL. "EX-VOTO OF THE VIRGIN OF MERCÈ WITH THE 'CONSELLER' CRISTÒFOL LLEDÓ", 1687.

Lot description

Oil on canvas.
Dated and identified, according to an inscription at the bottom.
With an Empire frame in carved, polychrome and gilded wood, c. 1830.
This is a private ex-voto commissioned by the merchant Cristòfol Lledó (1632-1692), who is depicted by the image of the Virgin and Child in costume, responding to an iconographic type in vogue at the time. The year 1687 was of decisive importance in his life, as he held the post of 'conseller en cap' of the city of Barcelona for the third time; as a result of the locust plague that devastated the city, as head of the 'Consell de Cent', and thanks to the vote cast by this institution, the coexistence of Saint Eulalia and the Virgin of Mercè as patron saints of Barcelona was established; and finally, the revolt of the Barretines broke out.
Provenance: by direct inheritance to the descendants of the patron.
Reference literature: Cristina Fontcuberta, 'El culte i la imatge de santa Eulàlia en la Barcelona moderna (segles XVI-XVIII)', in: Oriol Pascual (ed.), 'Santa Eulàlia, patrona de Barcelona', Barcelona, Ajuntament de Barcelona, 2018, pp. 93-117. We appreciate the collaboration of Cristina Fontcuberta, who is essential in the cataloguing of this piece, which she has studied on the basis of photographs. She is also currently co-director (together with Xavier Torres, from the Universitat de Girona) of the thesis "Mecenatge sacre i intercessió celestial: la representació del santoral ciutadà en la Barcelona moderna (1519-1760)" (Universitat de Barcelona, to be defended later this year) by Laura Faurías.
Relined.
119.5 x 109 cm; 140 x 131 cm (frame).