The Madonna of the Pilgrims, painted by Caravaggio between 1604 and 1606, shows us two old and tired pilgrims who have come to Mary’s door and, recognizing it, have fallen to their knees in an act of prayer. They are represented with worn and frayed clothes. The feet in the foreground of one of them are swollen and dirty, reflecting the long journey. The main themes of this work are humility and poverty, subjects dear to Caravaggio, who introduces a new figurative conception based on a direct relationship between the sacred and earthly dimensions. The protagonist of the scene is not in fact the traditional representation of the Virgin: she is not an ethereal veil, nor shining white garments, but a delicately hinted halo and poor clothing, typical of the common people of Rome. According to tradition, the Madonna had revealed herself to pilgrims who had traveled a long way to reach the Sacred House. The reward for their labors would have been the apparition of the Virgin and Child Jesus. But here the Sacred House is not idealized. On the contrary, it is brought back to an everyday and humble context, a modest popular construction highlighted by the cracks near the door, reiterating to the observer that the Holy Family does not need earthly privileges and riches. Only the posture of Mary, depicted on tiptoe, evokes the angelic transport, as per biblical tradition. 1604-1606, oil on canvas, Basilica of Sant’Agostino in Campo Marzio, Rome.
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