Madonna and Child Appearing to Saint Philip Neri

Giovanni Battista Piazzetta

National Gallery of Art

This painting includes two adults surrounded by clouds and winged cherubic figures. In the top left is a woman in a flowing white dress, holding a small child on a pile of clouds next to her. Both she and the child have halos of light around their heads. They are surrounded by cherubic figures amidst the clouds, two of which hold a large blue cloth that drapes down around the woman and child. In the bottom right, an old man kneels on dark stairs, looking up and the woman and child, his hands clasped and outstretched. The man is dressed a white robe with a red and gold garment draped over his shoulders, a white hat next to him. Near the hat, in the bottom left, another winged person has their back to us and holds a flaming stick. Next to them, on the ground, a white skull lays by a large red hat or satchel. The background is a mix of brown shades with gold and pale-yellow clouds.