Madonna della Clemenza

In the painting, Mary is depicted in the "Maria Regina" or Regina Coeli iconography nearly unique to Rome in late antiquity, wearing costume specific to Byzantine empresses. In this and many other early icons, Mary is formulated in the Maesta style. Maesta is a popular style for Marian iconography in which Mary is depicted as the Queen of Heaven, in regal style seated on a throne and complete with a crown covered in pearls. The Christ Child is dressed in purple robes similar to Mary's, but his were apparently originally painted with gold, while hers were not. Both Mary and Christ have golden halos. Mary is seated cradling the Christ child in one arm, and holding a cross staff in the other. This style of Mary holding Christ is unusual, as Mary usually holds Christ more securely. Here he sits erect on her lap, with her hand probably just on his thigh. ==History==

It has one of the first known donor portraits. Although the painting is badly worn, kneeling at the feet of the Virgin Mother is an image of what is believed to be Pope John VII. The idea behind the re-framing, was that if you framed an Icon, it would be transformed from a divine object into a piece of art, thereby removing the stigma of it being considered a false idol. The icon can still be seen over the Capella Altemps in the Basilica Santa Maria di Trastevere in Rome. == References ==