Fresco painting
The shrine devoted to Madonna dell’Arco has had many visitors and numerous of people have taken a pilgrimage to see it. The painting became famous with the story that a soccer ball hit the face of the Virgin Mary’s left cheek causing it to bleed and leave a mark on her cheek which can still be seen.¹
The Virgin Mary and baby Jesus Christ are positioned to the right side of the picture and not in the center. However, the gaze of the viewer is drawn right to the two of them as the rays from the sun in the right corner leads the viewer to the two. The images itself is surrounded in a golden frame filled with jewels. The background holds light pastel colors that form a landscape background. The light colors in the background allow for the greater emphasis on the Virgin and child. Additionally, there are golden stars surrounding the image of mother and child. The golden starts, crowns on Mary and Jesus, and the sun are all three-dimensional golden figures that stick out of the painting.
The Madonna dell’Arco pictures both the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus Christ. Mary is pictured in her normal blue robes while baby Jesus is naked. Both, Mary and Jesus is depicted with brown skin coloring. The naturalistic shadowing of the paint allows for both Mary and Jesus to look like a normal mother and child would. On top of both their heads ia a golden crown which symbolized their royalty. A symbol of their holiness can be seen in the light color that acts like a halo surrounding the outline of their bodies. Baby Jesus has his body facing towards the Virgin Mary but his eyes looking at the viewer. Mary’s body is facing forward with her head and eyes turned slightly away from the viewer as if lost in thought.
Experiencing Miraculous Images 