(Our Lady of the Rosary) / Oil on canvas / 57.1 x 47 cm / Artist: Predecessor of Fausto Quiotan (active ca 1770) / Intramuros Administration collection

The painting is a hieratic rendition of Mary and Jesus in gold-spangled robes in the act of exposing the holy rosary to devotees. Mary holds up the rosary with her right hand, her thumb and forefinger daintily “pincering” a bead. She supports the Infant Jesus with her left arm. Jesus also helps highlight the rosary, his fingers similarly enclosing a bead.

This particular Nuestra Señora del Rosario is remarkable for the self-consciously vertical approach to the saintly figures. The decorative flatness of their form and stylization of anatomical details combined with the attempts to render the folds of the drapery realistically point to the fledgling attempts of the artist at naturalism, a sensibility soon to be achieved by Fausto Quiotan; hence the artist is christened “Predecessor of Fausto Quiotan.”

The figure's flatness is offset by the rhythmically undulating lines of the hem of Mary’s cape, white veil, and hair.