Virgin of the town

This monumental altarpiece, painted by Federico Barocci in 1579, was acquired by Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo in 1786 for the Chapel of the Lay Brothers of Arezzo in the church of Santa Maria della Pieve. It has a rotating composition and a natural quality that is enlivened by bright colors and intense lighting. Figures such as the crippled man, the blind man and the woman with children are references to the Seven Works of Mercy of the Virgin, who in this painting is also presented to her son as the people's lawyer. Here Barocci anticipates the spectacular effects of Baroque art; In fact, among his young admirers, in addition to the Tuscan painters, there was also Rubens.