Micromosaic Copy of Madonna of the Chair

The picture features a sweet and enigmatic Virgin Mary sat down, captured in the naturalness and sensitivity of an intimate scene.

A colorfully decorated shawl covers the Virgin Mary's shoulders.

A soft striped cloth covers her head.

The Virgin Mary tenderly holds her child in her arms.

Her left leg is raised to be closer to her son.

The Madonna and Child both face outwards, drawing the viewer into the scene.

On the right, Saint John the Baptist looks on in prayer.

The work is produced using a tiny mosaic technique and reproduces the ultimate masterpiece by Raphael, housed in the Palatine Gallery (Galleria Palatina) of the Pitti Palace (Palazzo Pitti) in Florence.

Micromosaics are a technique involving the use of tiny tiles of different sizes. The irregularity of the pieces and the different color tones produce stunning hues, which successfully recreate the folds of the dress on the Virgin Mary's arm.

The subject is simple in appearance: in reality, it relates to the unit of heaven and earth in a historically complex moment for the Church.

Heaven is represented by the circular form of the picture, considered to be the perfect shape.

Earth is represented by the Mother Church, depicted by the chair on which the Virgin Mary is sitting.

The chair is a place of truth and a prerogative of the pope or of an high priest. Archetypal image of motherhood and probable allusion to the figure of the 'mother' Church who takes care of Christ.

The chair implies that Pope Leo X probably commissioned Raphael to produce the original work in the early 16th century.

Lorenzo Cassio's micromosaic copy was donated by Pope Pius XI to Queen Elena to celebrate the first royal visit to the Vatican on December 5, 1929, after the Lateran pacts. Today, it is in the Quirinal Palace, in the Room of the Loggias (Sala delle Logge).