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This oil on linen may have served as a preparatory study (modello) for a larger work. It depicts Our Lady of the Rosary enthroned in the heavenly sphere. St. Dominic is to the left of the Virgin; St. Catherine of Siena to the right, surrounded by other Dominican saints. Positioned in the lower register is a shield inscribed with the letters "MR" (Mary Regina), the monogram of Mary. The four figures on either side of the shield represent the continents and the diverse peoples of the world, who reach up to accept rosaries from the angels. The figure at the far left may be a patron or the person for whom this painting was created.
Joseph Bonaparte, the elder brother of the French Emperor Napoleon I, donated this piece to Old St. Joseph's Church around 1824. Crowned King of Naples (1806-08) and King of Spain (1808-13), Joseph fled to America from Spain in 1813. He lived for a short period in Philadelphia just a few city blocks from Old St. Joseph's, where he worshiped regularly.Label Type
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On loan from Old St. Joseph's Church