Velletri Madonna

The Velletri Madonna is a tempera and gold on panel painting by Gentile da Fabriano, executed c. 1426-1427, the only surviving work from his stay in Rome (perhaps from 1426 but definitely from 28 January 1427).

[2] The panel is very damaged, with the complete loss of color along the joints of the boards and in a large portion of the center, which however spares the faces of Mary and the Child.

In Mary's halo we can read the inscription "[a]ve maria [grat]ia [plena]" and on the hem of her mantle "AVE GRATI[A]".

Mary had to assume a three-quarter side position, in the sign of a bodily fullness that is also noticeable in the surviving part of the Child, who holds a strip of the mother's cloak.

Two angels on either side are painted with light brush strokes to create an evanescent and otherworldly apparition, a device used by Gentile in other works as well.