John Mcewen comments on Madonna del Parto

WHEN I visited the famous ‘Pregnant’ Madonna 30 years ago, it dominated the apse of a chapel-sized church outside the hill-top village of Monterchi, between Sansepolcro and Arezzo. There was no other visitor and it was moving to see such a famous painting in this modest and private place. Today, it is in a former school in Monterchi and its re-siting is debated.

The original location subjected it to a turbulent history. The fresco suffered from neglect, but withstood an earthquake and the reconstruction of the church, which was

reduced and re-aligned, the altar moved and the fresco taken from a side wall to the apse.

Its artistic assurance suggests a date from the artist’s maturity. His mother, Romana, came from Monterchi and died at about the time of the fresco’s probable date, but no document suggests it honours her death. The Madonna became an object of devotion for local women, but whether in gratitude, supplication or both is conjecture. Their veneration may also have owed something to an ancient pagan fertility cult. For Piero himself, the painting probably referred to the words of the Salve Regina (Hail Mary): ‘Show unto us the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.’

Infra-red and ultra-violet photography has revealed that the Madonna’s stance was more defined, her hands more delicate, her head-dress more elaborate. The tented canopy held open by the angels was more sumptuous, its outside decorated all over.

Fresco requires speed, the paint absorbed when the plaster is damp. Additions can be made a secco, to the dried surface, but at the price of shorter durability. The angels are surely one model duplicated, albeit opposites in the colour of wings and apparel.