A Madonna del Parto ("Madonna of Parturition") is an iconic depiction of the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...

shown as

pregnant Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring develops ( gestates) inside a woman's uterus (womb). A multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins. Pregnancy usually occurs by sexual intercourse, but ca ...

, which was developed in Italy, mainly in

Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...

in the 14th century. Examples include works by

Taddeo Gaddi Taddeo Gaddi (c. 1290, in Florence – 1366, in Florence) was a medieval Italian painter and architect. He was the son of Gaddo di Zanobi, called Gaddo Gaddi. He was a member of Giotto's workshop from 1313 until the master's death in 1337. A ...

Bernardo Daddi Bernardo Daddi ( 1280 – 1348) was an early Italian Renaissance painter and the leading painter of Florence of his generation. He was one of the artists who contributed to the revolutionary art of the Renaissance, which broke away from the conve ...

and Nardo di Cione, but the fresco by

Piero della Francesca Piero della Francesca (, also , ; – 12 October 1492), originally named Piero di Benedetto, was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. To contemporaries he was also known as a mathematician and geometer. Nowadays Piero della Francesca ...

in the Museum of Monterchi, in the province of Arezzo, is considered the most famous one. The Madonna was portrayed standing, alone, often with a closed book on her stomach, an allusion to the Incarnate Word. These works were associated with the devotions of pregnant women, praying for a safe delivery. Sometimes, as with a statue by Sansovino in the

Basilica of Sant'Agostino it, Basilica di Sant'Agostino in Campo Marzio , image = Sant Agostino Fassade.jpg , caption = Façade from the Piazza di Sant’Agostino , coordinates = , image_size=270 , mapframe-frame-width=270 , m ...

in Rome, the depiction is of a

Virgin and Child In art, a Madonna () is a representation of Mary, either alone or with her child Jesus. These images are central icons for both the Catholic and Orthodox churches. The word is (archaic). The Madonna and Child type is very prevalent i ...

, which was however known as a Madonna del Parto, because it was especially associated with devotions related to pregnancy. Here the Virgin wears the Girdle of Thomas, a belt of knotted cloth cord that was a

relic In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...

held in

Prato Cathedral Prato Cathedral, or Cathedral of Saint Stephen, ( it, Duomo di Prato; Cattedrale di San Stefano) is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Prato, Tuscany, Central Italy, from 1954 the seat of the Bishop of Prato, having been previously, from 1653, a cat ...

, which many versions show her wearing.

Piero della Francesca

The most famous work showing this subject is a fresco painting by the Italian Renaissance master

, finished around 1460. It is housed in the Museo della Madonna del Parto of

Monterchi Monterchi is a ''Comune'' (Municipality) in the Province of Arezzo in the Italian region of Tuscany, located about southeast of Florence and about east of Arezzo. It sits in the northern part of Valtiberina (The Tiber Valley), the valley where t ...

, Italy. Piero della Francesca finished it in seven days, using high quality colors, including a large quantity of ''blu oltremare'' obtained using

lapis lazuli Lapis lazuli (; ), or lapis for short, is a deep-blue metamorphic rock used as a semi-precious stone that has been prized since antiquity for its intense color. As early as the 7th millennium BC, lapis lazuli was mined in the Sar-i Sang mi ...

imported from

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is border ...

by the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia ...

. The fresco was at one time located in Santa Maria di Momentana, (formerly ''Santa Maria in Silvis''), an old country church in the hill town of

. That building was destroyed in 1785 by an earthquake and this work was detached from the walls and placed over the high altar of a new cemetery chapel; in 1992 it was moved to the Museo della Madonna del Parto in Monterchi. It was only in 1889 that the work was attributed to Piero della Francesca. Its dating has been the subject of debate, with estimates ranging from 1450 to 1475. The 16th century artist and writer

Giorgio Vasari Giorgio Vasari (, also , ; 30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance Master, who worked as a painter, architect, engineer, writer, and historian, who is best known for his work '' The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculp ...

wrote that it was completed in 1459, when Piero della Francesca was in

Sansepolcro Sansepolcro, formerly Borgo Santo Sepolcro, is a town and '' comune'' founded in the 11th century, located in the Italian Province of Arezzo in the eastern part of the region of Tuscany. Situated on the upper reaches of the Tiber river, the town ...

because of his mother's death. The fresco also plays an important role in Richard Hayer's novel ''Visus'', in Andrei Tarkovsky's film ''

Nostalghia ''Nostalghia'' (UK: ''Nostalgia'') is a 1983 Soviet- Italian drama film directed by Andrei Tarkovsky and starring Oleg Yankovsky, Domiziana Giordano, and Erland Josephson. Tarkovsky co-wrote the screenplay with Tonino Guerra. The film depicts ...

'', and in the poem "San Sepolcro" by

Jorie Graham Jorie Graham (; born May 9, 1950) is an American poet. The Poetry Foundation called Graham "one of the most celebrated poets of the American post-war generation." She replaced poet Seamus Heaney as Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory at ...

. Piero della Francesca's Madonna has neither books nor royal attributes as in most previous versions of the image, nor does she wear the girdle. She is portrayed with a hand against her side to support her prominent belly. She is flanked by two angels, who are holding open the curtains of a pavilion decorated with

pomegranate The pomegranate (''Punica granatum'') is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub in the family Lythraceae, subfamily Punicoideae, that grows between tall. The pomegranate was originally described throughout the Mediterranean region. It was intr ...

s, a symbol of Christ's Passion. The upper part of the painting has been lost. The two angels are specular, as they were executed by the artist using the same perforated cartoons to copy them. The theological symbolism behind the representation is complex. Maurizio Calvesi Maurizio Calvesi, ''Art e Dossier'', 1989 has suggested that the tent represents the

Ark of the Covenant The Ark of the Covenant,; Ge'ez: also known as the Ark of the Testimony or the Ark of God, is an alleged artifact believed to be the most sacred relic of the Israelites, which is described as a wooden chest, covered in pure gold, with an ...

. Mary would be thus the new Ark of Alliance in her role as Mother of Christ. For other scholars the tent is a symbol of the Catholic Church, and the Madonna would symbolize the tabernacle, as she is portrayed containing Jesus' body.

Notes

References

*Cassidy, Brendan, "A Relic, Some Pictures and the Mothers of Florence in the Late Fourteenth Century", ''Gesta'', Vol. 30, No. 2 (1991), pp. 91–99, The University of Chicago Press on behalf of the International Center of Medieval Art
JSTOR
* * * *

External links

Musei Civici Madonna del Parto
{{Authority control 1450s paintings 1460s paintings Paintings by Piero della Francesca Paintings of the Virgin Mary Fresco paintings in Italy Fresco paintings in Tuscany

Piero della Francesca

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links