Template:POTD/2019-05-02
The Madonna of Loreto is an oil-on-panel painting by the Italian High Renaissance painter Raphael, completed around 1511. The painting shows the Christ Child with his mother, Mary, as well as her husband, Saint Joseph. Just awakened, Jesus is playing a game with his mother's veil. Joseph is shown on the right, looking in from the shadows. Scholars have determined through X-ray analysis that Joseph was added as an afterthought, his image being painted over a window that was previously visible over Mary's shoulder. Furthermore, the change in the position of Jesus's right foot was also revealed via X-ray. These changes align with Raphael's preliminary drawings for the painting. The painting is now in the collection of the Musée Condé in Chantilly, France.Painting credit: Raphael