Madonna of the Rosary
by LOTTO, Lorenzo, Oil on canvas, 384 x 264 cm
The saints at the left side are Dominic, Magdalene, Thomas Aquinas; at the right Clare, Peter the Martyr, Esperance. The 15 tondos in the background represent scenes of the life of Christ, they are (from the bottom left) the Annunciation, Visitation, Nativity, Circumcision, Jesus among the Doctors, Agony in the Garden, Flagellation, Crowning with Thorns, Road to Calvary, Crucifixion, Resurrection, Ascension, Pentecost, Assumption, Coronation of the Virgin.
According to the tradition, the donator was Sperandia Franceschini Simonetti, the wife of Dario Franceschini, Lotto’s friend at Cingoli. It is not known whether Lotto executed the painting in the Marches where he stayed in November 1538, or in Venice where he is documented in January 1540.