Retracing Her Roots: The Reforming Church and St. Anne in Triplicate; a Study of Caravaggio's Madonna dei Palafrenieri for New St. Peter's

Abstract

Caravaggio's Madonna dei Palafrenieri has a long history of scholarly attention, dating back to contemporary writers such as Giulio Mancini and Giovanni Baglione. However, literature on the altarpiece has largely been concerned with one matter of the painting's past, its rejection. This thesis will begin by providing a historical and religious context for the creation and reception of the Madonna dei Palafrenieri, and will discuss the subject matter, theology, iconography and visual qualities of the painting. In order to clear away the long debated issue of the painting's removal, and therefore move on to interpreting it in more nuanced terms, counter arguments will be made for each of the often-cited causes of the altarpiece's rejection. Finally, the major focus of this paper will tackle an area not yet discussed with respect to the Palafrenieri altarpiece: the Church's use of tradition, particularly its contemporary interest in sacred history, as a means to reinforce its legitimacy, not just in doctrine and practice, but in visual expression as well.