Mary as the Mother of Mercy / Protective Mantle Madonna

The Protective Mantle Madonna (Schutzmantelmadonna) from about 1460 at Berlin's Gemäldegalerie depicts the Virgin sheltering the faithful beneath her outspread cloak—a powerful image of intercession popular in Northern European devotion that Lippi adapted for an Italian context. The image type had particular resonance during outbreaks of plague. Characteristic of the artist's mature approach, the work displays linear grace combined with a new emotional warmth, delicate color, innovative compositional devices including the tondo format, lyrical landscape backgrounds.

The sweeping arc of the Virgin's mantle creates a protective canopy over the diminutive supplicants below, with Lippi's refined drapery painting transforming the blue cloak into a monumental architectural element.