Madonna del Terremoto

Francesco di Giorgio's Madonna del Terremoto (Madonna of the Earthquake) is a devotional image that may commemorate a specific earthquake and the miraculous protection attributed to a Marian image during the event. Votive images commissioned to commemorate miraculous deliverances were a significant category of Italian Renaissance devotional production, combining personal gratitude with public proclamation of divine protection. Francesco di Giorgio's Sienese tradition of warmly intimate Madonna images, combined with the specific commemorative function, creates a work that served both the personal devotion of the original patron and the communal religious memory of the event.

Francesco di Giorgio's refined Sienese style creates a devotional image of serene beauty, with the elegant figural proportions and luminous coloring characteristic of his panel paintings.