The woman of hope, faith, love

ANDREA DEL SARTO
Madonna della Scala

At the top of some steps, hence the traditional name of the work, Mary is kneeling and holding the baby, and with one hand holding the veil inflated by the wind. At his feet are St Matthew an angel, while in the distance, in the background, one can see a woman from behind walking with a child ( Elizabeth and John on the run from the slaughter of the Innocents ) and a fortified city in the hills.

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 Mary is the woman of hope…Mary is a woman of faith… Mary is a woman who loves… Mary has truly become the Mother of all believers. Men and women of every time and place have recourse to her motherly kindness and her virginal purity and grace, in all their needs and aspirations, their joys and sorrows, their moments of loneliness and their common endeavours. They constantly experience the gift of her goodness and the unfailing love which she pours out from the depths of her hear. ~~ Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI