Editing Immaculate Conception (section)

==Artistic representation==
{{Main|Marian art in the Catholic Church}}
[[File:Giotto di Bondone - No. 6 Scenes from the Life of Joachim - 6. Meeting at the Golden Gate - WGA09176.jpg|thumb|Giotto, ''Meeting at the Golden Gate'', 1304–1306]]

The Immaculate Conception became a popular subject in literature,{{sfn|Twomey|2008|p=ix}} but its abstract nature meant it was late in appearing as a subject in art.{{sfn|Hall|2018|p=337}} During the Medieval period it was depicted as "[[Joachim and Anne Meeting at the Golden Gate]]", meaning Mary's conception through the chaste kiss of her parents at the Golden Gate in Jerusalem;{{sfn|Hall|2018|p=175}} the 14th and 15th centuries were the heyday for this scene, after which it was gradually replaced by more allegorical depictions featuring an adult Mary.{{sfn|Hall|2018|p=171}}

The definitive [[iconography]] for the depiction of "Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception" seems to have been finally established by the painter and theorist [[Francisco Pacheco]] in his  "El arte de la pintura" of 1649: a beautiful young girl of 12 or 13, wearing a white tunic and blue mantle, rays of light emanating from her head ringed by twelve stars and crowned by an imperial crown, the Sun behind her and the Moon beneath her feet.{{sfn|Moffitt|2001|p=676}} Pacheco's iconography influenced other [[Spanish people|Spanish]] artists or artists active in Spain such as [[El Greco]], [[Bartolomé Murillo]], [[Diego Velázquez]], and [[Francisco Zurbarán]], who each produced a number of artistic masterpieces based on the use of these same symbols.{{sfn|Katz|Orsi|2001|p=98}} The popularity of this particular representation of ''The Immaculate Conception'' spread across the rest of Europe, and has since remained the best known artistic depiction of the concept: in a heavenly realm, moments after her creation, the spirit of Mary (in the form of a young woman) looks up in awe at (or bows her head to) God. The Moon is under her feet and a [[Halo (religious iconography)|halo]] of twelve stars surround her head, possibly a reference to "a woman clothed with the sun" from [[Revelation 12:1–2]]. Additional imagery may include clouds, a golden light, and [[putti]]. In some paintings the putti are holding [[Lilium|lilies]] and [[rose]]s, flowers often associated with Mary.{{sfn|Jenner|1910|pp=3–9}}