The Museum of the Madonna del Parto in Monterchi preserves Piero della Francesca's splendid fresco, one of the Arezzo artist's most famous and one of the highest expressions of the Renaissance.
The work, which was originally located in the chapel of Santa Maria di Momentana in Monterchi, is shrouded in mystery, both because of the choice of the site where it was frescoed, a place anciently elected for the devotion of divine figures who were protectors of fertility, and because of the commissioning of the work, which is still unknown today: a masterpiece, unique in its kind, that could be the initiative of the master himself.
The Virgin is depicted pregnant, in the center of a drape opened by two angels. She wears a simple blue dress with openings that allow a glimpse of the white petticoat, a symbol of her purity. With one hand she caresses her belly, a gesture of protection at the same time as a proud display of the miracle in progress. The other hand rests on her hip. The drape that welcomes the scene is decorated with pomegranate flowers, evocative of Christ's future passion.
