Immaculata at House "At the Monkeys" / Immaculata na dome U Opic - Dlouha trida (Prague) - Statues of Religious Figures on Waymarking.com

Baroque statue of Immaculata, one of expressions of Virgin Mary, decorates entrance portal of Baroque palace-type house "At the Monkeys" or "At the Opitzs" (U Opic / U Opitzu), which is situated in Dlouha street in Old Town of Prague.

The statue of Virgin Mary - Immaculata, depicting saint in a standard iconographical interpretation, is work of unknown Baroque sculptor made after 1702.

The Immaculate Conception is, according to Roman Catholic doctrine, the conception of the Virgin Mary without any stain ("Immacula" in Latin) of original sin. It is one of the four dogmas in Roman Catholic Mariology. Under this aspect Mary is sometimes called the "Immaculata" (the Immaculate One), particularly in artistic contexts.

The definitive iconography for the Immaculate Conception, drawing on the emblem tradition, seems to have been finally established by the master and then father-in-law of Diego Velázquez, the painter and theorist Francisco Pacheco (1564–1644). Pacheco's iconography influenced other Spanish artists such as Bartolome Murillo, Diego Velázquez, and Francisco Zurbaran, who each produced a number of artistic masterpieces based on the use of these same symbols.

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 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 cherubs. In some paintings the cherubim are holding lilies and roses, flowers often associated with Mary.

[excerpted from wiki]