The painting demonstrates the traditional depiction of the Virgo Immaculata, an allegory of the Virgin Mary's Immaculate Conception. The iconography is based on the Catholic medieval doctrine that the Virgin Mary was sinless from the moment of her conception. Accordingly, art developed a well-established image of the Virgin Mary. Its task was to convey the doctrine's essential message through visual and symbolic images. The painting depicts the Virgin Mary with the Child on a heavenly throne. A crescent moon, a symbol of bodily purity and chastity; a globe; and a serpent with a fig in its mouth, a representation of original sin, are depicted under her feet. The Virgin Mary presses the serpent's head with one foot, demonstrating victory over it. Cherubs and angels surround the central figures. One of them is holding a white lily, symbolising bodily purity.