DIONISIO FIERROS ÁLVAREZ (La Ballota, Asturias, 1827 - Madrid, 1894)."Inmaculada de Soult (Murillo)".Oil on canvas.Signed in the lower margin.Size: 149 x 138 cm; 173 x 148 cm (frame).In this painting, Fierros pays homage to The Immaculate Conception "of Soult", one of the most emblematic Marian versions of Murillo, conserved at present in the Prado Museum. The Asturian painter skilfully emulates the virginal and tender model of the Murillo virgin, although he reinterprets certain details freely. At the same time, he manages to reproduce the foreshortened angels with great skill, as well as the vaporous background that surrounds the group of figures. As in the Baroque model, the Virgin is dressed in white and blue, with her hands folded on her breast, and standing on the moon. Born in a peasant environment, Dionisio Fierros trained in Madrid, first in the studio of José Madrazo and then in that of his son Federico. At the same time he enrolled at the San Fernando Academy of Fine Arts and copied works at the Prado Museum. In 1885 he left the court and moved to Galicia, ready to succeed as a painter, and devoted himself to commissioned portraits, a genre in which he excelled with a strong personality, somewhere between realist and romantic. He remained in Galicia for three years and tirelessly painted portraits, landscapes and genre scenes featuring the popular types of the area. In 1860 Fierros took part in the National Exhibition of Fine Arts in Madrid and won one of the first medals with his painting "Romería en las cercanías de Santiago" ("Pilgrimage near Santiago"), which would give prestige in Madrid to the genre of genre painting, so popular at the time. He then travelled to Paris to complete his training, thanks to the protection of the Marquis of San Adrián, and on his return to Spain he settled in Santiago de Compostela, painting landscapes and popular Galician customs. He continued his picturesque wanderings, which took him to Salamanca, where he also left numerous testimonies of popular types. In 1866 he again took part in the National Competition and was again awarded a prize. Dionisio Fierros is currently represented in the Prado Museum, the Museum of Modern Art in Madrid, the National Museum of Fine Arts in Buenos Aires, the Pazo Quiñones de León in Vigo, the Provincial Museum in Lugo, the Museum of Fine Arts in Asturias, the University of Santiago de Compostela, the Museo Casa Natal de Jovellanos, the Royal Sites and various provincial and city councils, among others.