Madonna and Child

Mary is portrayed as a Queen while breastfeeding the Child, a gesture that emphasises her humanity. She wears a splendid mantle of ultramarine blue, a pigment derived from Afghan lapis lazuli. The artwork is an object of deep devotion and a symbol of cultural identity for the community of Montereale. Every three years, in mid-August, the panel is returned to the local community for Marian celebrations. According to legend, although the panel had long been moved elsewhere, it would repeatedly reappear in the marshy area where it was originally discovered, where a church was later built in her honour.