Size: 37 x 19 x 3cm. Weight: 1.235 kg
Hand-painted devotional image in egg tempera on aged Cypress wood with 23 karat gold leaf, complex sgraffito and punchwork, and acrylic ink calligraphy. (Inspired by Nardo di Cione, Madonna del Parto, Museo Bandini, Fiesole, Italy).
This painting depicts Mary the Mother of God, as pregnant with Jesus (‘Madonna del Parto’), indicated by the belt or cintola she wears at the waist. In this iconography she is prayed to by expectant mothers for the safe delivery of their child.
The moon and stars at the feet of the Madonna del Parto allude to the image of Mary as ‘The Woman of the Apocalypse”, where the biblical text describes the vision of a woman in the sky clothed in the sun, moon and stars.
Mary is also presented as the Queen of Heaven and of the Saints, where she wears an elegant gown and regal crown. The inscription surrounding the image is a much-loved medieval prayer in honour of Mary’s closeness to God in eternal paradise, and as Intercessor for humanity: “Ave Regina Mater Misericordia; Ora pro nobis. Ora pro nobis Spes nostra” (Hail Queen Mother of Mercy; Pray for us. Pray for us our Hope).
Size: 37 x 19 x 3cm. Weight: 1.235 kg
Hand-painted devotional image in egg tempera on aged Cypress wood with 23 karat gold leaf, complex sgraffito and punchwork, and acrylic ink calligraphy. (Inspired by Nardo di Cione, Madonna del Parto, Museo Bandini, Fiesole, Italy).
This painting depicts Mary the Mother of God, as pregnant with Jesus (‘Madonna del Parto’), indicated by the belt or cintola she wears at the waist. In this iconography she is prayed to by expectant mothers for the safe delivery of their child.
The moon and stars at the feet of the Madonna del Parto allude to the image of Mary as ‘The Woman of the Apocalypse”, where the biblical text describes the vision of a woman in the sky clothed in the sun, moon and stars.
Mary is also presented as the Queen of Heaven and of the Saints, where she wears an elegant gown and regal crown. The inscription surrounding the image is a much-loved medieval prayer in honour of Mary’s closeness to God in eternal paradise, and as Intercessor for humanity: “Ave Regina Mater Misericordia; Ora pro nobis. Ora pro nobis Spes nostra” (Hail Queen Mother of Mercy; Pray for us. Pray for us our Hope).
