Gregorio Lazzarini (1655-1730)
The Immaculate Conception

Cappella Battaglia, Ognissanti church, Venice, Italy

This is the typical image of Mary as the Immaculate Conception. With a dragon at her feet and accompanied by angels, she is "clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars" (Revelation 12:1).

The painting is the centerpiece of an elaborate chapel in Venice's Ognissanti church with two cupolas, one with putti above the other with what appear to be the Father and Holy Spirit adored by an angel. (The bearded central figure cannot be a mere saint, because the angel is clearly kneeling before him, but why is he wearing a hood?)

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Photographed at the church by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.