Palla della Peste

The Pala della Peste (Altarpiece of the Bubonic Plague) or Pallione del Voto is an oil on silk Baroque-style altarpiece by Guido Reni depicts the Madonna and Child in Glory with the Patron Saints of Bologna: Petronius, Francis, Ignatius, Francis Xavier, Proculus of Bologna, and Florian.

[2] The altarpiece was in the past paraded yearly in a formal procession from the Palazzo Pubblico to the church of San Domenico, Bologna.

The structure of the painting follows the formal arrangement, exemplified by a late 16th-century canvas by Annibale Carraci in the Pinacoteca of Bologna.

Beside him standing is St Proculus of Bologna, a martyred Roman soldier, holding a sword and palm leaf (symbol of martyrdom).

The Palla delle Peste is described by Viardot as "an excellent specimen of the pale coloring which Guido had adopted".