The Madonna and Child with St. Anne (Dei Palafrenieri) or Madonna and the Serpent[1], is one of the mature religious works of the Italian Baroque master Caravaggio, painted in 1605–1606, for the altar of the Archconfraternity of the Papal Grooms (Italian: Arciconfraternita di Sant'Anna de Parafrenieri)[2] in the Basilica of Saint Peter[3] and taking its theme from Genesis 3:15.

[3][4] The painting was briefly exhibited in the parish church for the Vatican, Sant'Anna dei Palafrenieri, before its removal, due to its unorthodox portrayal of the Virgin Mary.

[5] There are a lot of reasons why the piece may have been removed, such as the nudity of the child Jesus and the Virgin Mary revealing too much of her breast.

[1] It is unknown as to why the Confraternity picked Caravaggio to do the altarpiece; it is known that he was paid 25 scudi for the painting,[1][4] according to a document found by scholar Luigi Spezzaferro, dated October 31st.

[1] Another reason as to why the painting may have been removed was that Caravaggio did not put enough effort into depicting the Holy Family grouping.

[4] Scholar Maurizio Marini believed one of the biggest reasons Caravaggio's altarpiece was removed was due to his being a murderer that committed many crimes.

[7] The Church may have rejected the piece knowing Lena was not an appropriate person to represent a holy figure since she was a prostitute.

[7] The infant Jesus being fully naked may have also caused controversy and could be another reason as to why the altarpiece was removed from St.

[9] While not his most successful arrangement, it is an atypical representation of the Virgin Mary for its time and must have been shocking to some contemporary viewers.

[2] The depiction of the Virgin Mary, with the aid of her son, whom she holds, tramples and crushes on a serpent, the emblem of evil or original sin.

[1] This is strange because usually in Christian artwork, Jesus is depicted having the brightest halo to draw attention to him, Caravaggio did not do that in this painting.

[1] Jesus's left hand is depicted doing a gesture where he is putting his middle finger and thumb together creating a circle.

[1] Caravaggio depicted Jesus' as nude because showing his genitals represents the true human body.

[4] Caravaggio and Michelangelo believed that depicting him nude lets the viewers know that Jesus came to be represented as a free human nature from the "Adamic contagion of shame," stated by Leo Steinberg.