Why is the Madonna in the paintings represented with a blue mantle?

The veil of the Madonna it becomes blue coloror as it was called at the time, blue overseas, between the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance: it was in fact a color of considerable economic value, obtained from a precious stone like the lapislazzulo, and therefore it was reserved in the works, to elements of high moral value, howil veil of the Virgin Mary. Yet it has not always been like this. As can be seen in the paintings and icons preceding the 300, more or less, the Manto of the Madonna was initially dark in colorto indicate the mourning For the death of the Son Jesus (also in the works in which he is still an infant).

The lapislazzulo, which constitutes the pigment that colors the blue veil of blue, is a stone that was imported from Persia (today more or less corresponding to Iran) in very small quantities. The clients who wanted to demonstrate their prestige and wealth through the works they financed did it through the choice of a particular teacher who made them, or giving them a considerable size or by providing them with expensive colors, such as thesky blue. The visual designer Riccardo Falcinelli indicates, in his bestseller “Cromorama”, an interesting testimony of the change of tastes over time in the “Madonna di wooden wood” preserved at Museum of Liège. The wooden sculpture has in fact been repainted several times to keep up with the chromatic fashions: after a first hand of black (the mourning), the veil of the Virgin became an intense shade of blue right in the Renaissance era, and then it was a gold -colored repainting, in the baroque splendor, and white, in the mid -1800s, a symbol of purity.

Conventions change together with culture, and in this case one financial issue has become a Theological and cultural themewhich still lasts today, in a completely different area. There Royal House of the Savoy In fact, reigning dynasty in Italy, in fact he chose the blue in his banner inspired by the color of the cloak of the Virgin; But also sportsmen of the national team, such as players or Olympics, have adopted this color, for the same reason, for this they are called “The Azzurri”.