Author: Giambattista Lambranzi
Dating: 1670-1671
Century: 17th century
Technique: Oil on canvas
Location: Central nave, third left arch (on the map number 21)
In the painting, the Madonna appears to Blessed Bertoldo II. In the foreground, the Virgin Mary is depicted appearing to Bertoldo, inviting him to move away from the East, full of mortal dangers for the Carmelites. According to tradition, it was said in the chronicles that a massacre of 140,000 Carmelites had taken place at the hands of the Saracens in the lands of Palestine, where they were martyred for their faith in God. In the background, the painter has gathered and aligned a crowd of monks wearing the distinctive attire of the Order: a white cloak over a brown robe. It was on that occasion, according to tradition, that the Virgin Mary led the surviving Carmelites to Europe, where they founded new convents. The Madonna is depicted sitting on a cloud, with a lineup of child angels in front of her, joined by others flying among the branches of a tree, beneath which the Saint stands. In the center, at the bottom, soldiers in armor and bodies of friars on the ground can be seen, awaiting martyrdom.
Lambranzi was a Venetian artist who rarely left his hometown and was involved in painting and possibly preparatory drawings for engravings until 1706, the likely year of his death.
