Madonna of the Oranges

In this late painting, Shammout transforms the artistic icon of the Italian Renaissance—the pieta of the Madonna cradling the baby Jesus—into a young Palestinian mother. Delicately draped in a white shroud, the Palestinian Madonna stands proudly in an orange grove. With her young daughter at her side, the mother lovingly carries her sleeping baby. The three figures are framed by a lush tree, ripe with bright oranges. In the background, a man and young boy harvest the fruit. Painted in the year the artist first returned to visit his place of birth Al-Lydd after fifty years, Shammout signals the continual flowering of nature and optimism for future generations of Palestinians through the abundance of oranges and his youthful characters.