The Madonna della Misericordia

---

The Madonna della Misericordia (Madonna of Mercy) is the name given to an image of the Virgin Mary in which she shelters a group of smaller figures (who kneel in thanks for her protection) under her open cloak. 

​The theme was particularly popular between the 13th and 16th century and there are many examples, large and small, to be seen throughout Venice. It was often commissioned by the city's many scuole (confraternites) and it is the confratelli who kneel at her feet. In Venice the images often take the form of the Virgin bearing, on her chest, the Christ child enclosed in a mandorla.