Luis Lagarto (c. 1556 Seville - 1624 Puebla de Zaragoza) Perimeter Maria "Tota pulchra es" Rare, original sheet with a central depiction of the Virgin Mary on a crescent moon with a snake, dressed in a blue, flowing mantle and with her hands folded in prayer. Her head is framed by a fine halo and putti heads, while her figure is staged amidst Marian symbols such as the sun, the fountain, the mirror and the tower, as they also appear in the Lauretanian Litany. The richly decorated, wide border features detailed depictions of God the Father with the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, St Joseph with the Christ Child, St Bernard of Clairvaux with the doves and St John of Jerusalem. St Bernard of Clairvaux with the instruments of the Passion (cross, nail and scourge) in a white monk's habit, a saint with a church model, patriarchal staff and red monzetta, St Jerome in the desert, St Thomas Aquinas with a pen and church model, St Ildefons of Toledo with a green chasuble and St John the Evangelist with an eagle and open book of the Gospels. The inventive style and the symbolic motif show obvious parallels to the rare and extremely creative works of the important illuminator Luis Lagarto, whose work was continued by his sons. Presumably born in Seville around 1556, Luis Lagarto probably received his training from Lázaro de Velasco in Granada, among others, and emigrated to Mexico around 1585, where he worked until his death around 1624, producing numerous works on behalf of the church in Pueblo and elsewhere. Some of his few surviving manuscripts are kept in the Pinacoteca Virreinal de San Diego in Mexico City, the Museo José Luis Bello y González in Pueblo and the Museo de América in Madrid. Pencil, gouache, gold pigment, watercolour/paper. Partially inscribed; 22 cm x 17.5 cm. Frame. Provenance: Dissolution of an important German private collection - Part II. Circle o Luis Lagarto (1556-1624). Hispanic book illustrator and painter active circa 1600-1650. Pencil, gouache and gold pigment on paper.