Our Lady of Good Counselc. 1680 · Study 2012.5

Context from the museum

This painting loosely and inventively depicts an actual chapel in the former Jesuit Imperial College in Madrid, which housed a Madonna and Child in gilded and painted wood, a focus of popular devotion. Pérez made temporary decorations for the Spanish court, none of which survive, but the fanciful architecture, curiously inverted obelisks, fruits and flowers, and pastel colors all stem from this side of his work. By representing a polychrome sculpture in two dimensions, Pérez further blurred boundaries between painting and sculpture. This intersection of the spiritual and the real worlds was important in Spanish art of the 1600s.

Museum description reproduced from its CC0 open-access record. Read the original catalog entry.

Read the dimensions before the image

The selected unframed measurement for Our Lady of Good Counsel is 26 cm wide and 37 cm high, equivalent to approximately 10.2 × 14.6 inches. Dividing width by height gives a format ratio of 0.70:1. The rectangular bounding area is 0.10 square meters; it describes the measured footprint, not the amount of paint or the monetary value.

On an illustrative 300 cm wall, the recorded width occupies 8.7% of the span before adding a frame. A centered placement leaves approximately 137.0 cm on each side before adding a frame. These are calculations by Physical Art For Crypto using museum measurements. They are not the museum’s display recommendations.

Questions to bring to your own collection

With Our Lady of Good Counsel in view, identify one feature you can point to, then distinguish what the museum records from your personal response. Keep its medium, oil on copper, in your notes when comparing contemporary works.

• Which part of this vertical composition catches your eye first?
• Would a 26 cm width still suit the space after allowing for furniture and a frame?
• What surface detail would you need to see in person or in a close photograph?