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Madonna del Manto o della Misericordia
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Artist: Giovanni di Paolo
Year: 1436
Current location: Basilica di San Clemente in Santa Maria dei Servi
Original location: Basilica di San Clemente in Santa Maria dei Servi
DESCRIPTIVE INFORMATION
The Madonna of the Mantle is a famous tempera on panel by the Sienese master Giovanni di Paolo. The work is located inside the Basilica of San Clemente in Santa Maria dei Servi in Siena, specifically above the altar of Blessed Giovacchino in the left transept.
The work depicts the iconography of the Mater Misericordiae, in which the Virgin Mary protects the faithful, welcoming them under her ample cloak.
The painting blends the decorative elegance of the International Gothic style with early Renaissance influences, a distinctive feature of Giovanni di Paolo's artistic career.
The Virgin, dressed in a robe reminiscent of a liturgical dalmatic, opens her cloak to protect a crowd of faithful.
Among them are two saints of great importance to the Order of the Servants of Mary: Saint Veronica Giuliani (left) and Saint Philip Benizi (right).
The iconography of the Madonna della Misericordia derives from the medieval tradition of the "protection of the cloak," a right that noblewomen and high-ranking figures could grant to the persecuted and needy, offering them inviolable shelter.
In Sienese painting, this protection often also took on a strong civic significance, placing the entire city and
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