The Pregnant Virgin-Mother

Piero della Francesca (about 1415 – 1492) produced a number of significant paintings on the life of Jesus. His fresco Madonna del Parto (the Virgin shortly before she gave birth) was located in a chapel at Monterchi near Arrezo in Tuscany but in 1992 was moved to the Musco della Madonna del Parto nearby. The scene posits two angels who open curtains to a tent reminiscent of the Tabernacle in ancient Israel, to reveal Mary pointing to her womb. In his WSJ article, “On the Brink of the Saviors Arrival,” Willard Spiegelman describes the scene: “The curtain is going up on a world changing performance.” The Museum’s website gives a description in English with photographs of the town and the painting: www.madonnadelparto.it/la-madonna-del-parto-uk-2/ .

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