Miraculous Madonna of Chioggia

This late Italian Baroque oval plaque was probably used in private devotion. While evoking the familiar Passion iconography of the Virgin lamenting over the crucified Christ, the medallion is actually a rare depiction of a miracle that took place in 1508 in Chioggia, an outpost of the Venetian Republic: the apparition to a poor gardener of the Virgin Mary supporting the limp body of Christ, who has been wounded by the sins of the city’s residents.