Madonna del Pianto, Rome, Italy

On January 10, 1546, two men quarreled near the street shrine of the Madonna del Portico d'Ottavia, on via Arco dei Cenci near the Roman Ghetto. One begged the other to spare him for love of the Virgin Mary, then stabbed that man in the back when he hugged him in forgiveness. The image wept three days. The 15th-century fresco was then moved into the nearby church of San Salvatore de Cacabariis. In 1612 church reconstruction began, and in 1616 the image was reinstalled and the church rededicated to the Weeping Madonna. Mother and child were crowned May 20, 1643. The image appears to be a somewhat abstract representation of Mary nursing the Child.