1.1 Excerpt from Litany of the Saints (Liber usualis) 33
2.1 Ex votos at the sanctuary of the Madonna of Montenero, Livorno. Photograph by the authors 48
2.2 Ex voto at the sanctuary of Santa Maria di Castello, Genoa. Photograph by the authors 55
2.3 Ex voto at the sanctuary of Santa Maria di Castello, Genoa. Photograph by the authors 58
2.4 Devotees at the garden shrine of the Madonna dell’Orto, Chiavari (commemorative image). Oil on wood. Cathedral and sanctuary of the Madonna dell’Orto. Photograph by the authors 59
2.5 The Madonna dell’Orto. Fresco, ca. 1490, formerly on a garden wall, in its transposed, 17th-century setting. Photograph by the authors 61
3.1 Villa Cattolica, Bagheria (Palermo), the geometrical disegno of outbuildings is highlighted in green, the oratory is in red. Manipulation by the author of a Google Earth image 69
3.2 Oratory of Villa Cattolica, entrance from the street, Bagheria (Palermo). Photograph by the author 70
3.3 Oratory of Villa Cattolica, entrance from the inner garden, Bagheria (Palermo). Photograph by the author 71
3.4 Villa La Grua, Palermo, the oratory is highlighted in red. Manipulation by the author of a Google Earth image 72
3.5 Chapel on the ground floor of Villa La Grua. Photograph by the author, by kind permission of Gustavo Wirz 73
3.6 Patricia Waddy’s scheme for the apartment in seventeenth-century Rome. The chapel is highlighted in red by the author, whilst the bedroom area is coloured in light red. Scheme from: Waddy P., Seventeenth-century Roman Palaces: use and the art of the plan (New York and Cambridge: 1990), 5 77
3.7 Scheme of the apartment in late seventeenth- and early-eighteenth-century Palermo by the author, based on the description by G.B. Amico. The chapel is highlighted in red, whilst the bedroom area is coloured in light red 78
3.8 Scheme based on the description by G.B. Amico. The rooms shaded yellow represent the spaces that were most public, those in blue the most private, and those in red the more liminal. The red line indicates the limit to an outsider’s gaze 79
3.9 Chapel and salon on the first floor of Palazzo Raffadali. Photograph by the author, by kind permission of Maria Teresa Panzera 81
3.10 Altar closet in Palazzo Termine. Photograph by the author, by kind permission of Signoretta Alliata 82
4.1 Marietta Robusti, “Self Portrait”, ca. 1580. Oil on canvas, 93.5 × 91.5 cm. Florence, Galleria degli Uffizi. © Scala Picture Library, Florence 91
4.2 Jacopo Tintoretto, “Women making music”, after 1566. Oil on canvas, 142 × 214 cm. Dresden, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen. © Elke Estel/Hans-Peter Klut 92
4.3 Wendelin Tieffenbrucker, Chitarrone (probably originally a lute but later converted), made in Padua, 1592. Pinewood with ebony and ivory, 170 × 34 cm. London, Victoria and Albert Museum. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London 95
4.4 Madonna Nicopeia, 12th century, Byzantine. Tempera on wood, 58 × 55 cm. Venice, Basilica di San Marco. © Cameraphoto Arte, Venice 101
4.5 Compendium musices confectum ad faciliorem instructionem cantum choralem […] (Venice: Lucantonium de Giunta, 1513). V&A Libraries, Special Collections, 87.D.28. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London 110
5.1 Titian, “Nobleman of the Maltese Order”, 1510–1515. Oil on canvas, 80 × 64 cm. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence. Photo: Nicola Lorusso. © Alinari / Art Resource, NY 118
5.2 Palma il Vecchio (Jacopo d’Antonio Negretti), “Portrait of a Gentleman”, ca. 1520–1525. Oil on panel transferred to canvas, 69.5 × 55.6 cm. Philadelphia Museum of Art. © John G. Johnson Collection, 1917 121
5.3 Anonymous Cretan painter, “Virgin and Child”, late 15th or early 16th century. Oil on wood, 332 × 332 cm. Louvre, Paris, France. © RMN-Grand Palais / Art Resource 124
5.4 Lorenzo Lotto, “Madonna and Child with Two Donors”, ca. 1525–1530. Oil on canvas, 87.6 × 118.1 cm. The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA. Digital Image courtesy of the Getty’s Open Content Program 127
5.5 Antonello da Messina, “Ecce Homo”, 1475. Oil on wood, 48.5 × 38 cm. Museo Civico, Piacenza, Italy. © Scala / Art Resource, NY 130
5.6 Antonello da Messina, “Portrait of a Man (Il Condottiero)”, 1475. Oil on wood, 36.2 × 30 cm. Louvre, Paris, France. © Erich Lessing / Art Resource, NY 131
6.1 The Church of Gesù Nuovo, Naples, 16th–18th centuries. Photograph by the author 144
6.2 The epigraph on the timpanum of the Casa Professa. Photograph by the author 146
6.3 Portrait of Francesco Teodoro Sanseverino, BNN, ms. I B 36 G.B. Masculo (S.J.), Isabellae Feltriae Roboreaque principis Bisiniani […] (Naples 1619). ｩ Biblioteca Nazionale di Napoli 148
6.4 Portrait of Isabella della Rovere, BNN, ms. I B 36, G.B. Masculo (S.J.), Isabellae Feltriae Roboreaque principis Bisiniani […] (Naples 1619). © Biblioteca Nazionale di Napoli 149
6.5 P. Campollonio, Stanze di Pietro Campollonio di Napoli, alla illustrissima et eccellentissima signora Isabella Feltria della Rovere […] (Naples 1580) 150
6.6 Friar Emanuele from Naples, Vita del venerabile servo di Dio Frate Geremia da Valacchia de’ Minori Cappuccini della Provincia di Napoli (Naples 1761) 154
>6.7 The vision of Madonna, BNN, ms. XI A 52, ca. n.n. © Biblioteca Nazionale di Napoli 155
7.1 Pietro and Giovanni Alemanno, polychromy Francesco Felice, “Presepe”, 1478. Polychromed poplar wood. Naples, Museo di Certosa di San Martino. Photograph by the author 165
7.2 Andrea della Robbia’s workshop, “Christ Child”, ca. 1500. Glazed terracotta, h: 45.7 cm. London, Victoria and Albert Museum (Inv. no. 7702–1861). © Victoria and Albert Museum, London 168
7.3 Giovanni di Nicola di Manzoni di Colle (?), “The Adoration of the Magi”, ca. 1509–1515. Glazed terracotta, 25.5 × 34.5 cm. Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Museum (Inv. no. C.2180–1928). © Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge 171
7.4 Giovanni di Nicola di Manzoni (?), “Nativity Inkstand”, ca. 1509. Glazed terracotta, 24 × 23 × 22 cm. Geneva, Museum Ariana (Inv. AR 4092). Photograph by the author 173
7.5 Giovanni di Nicola di Manzoni (?), “Nativity Inkstand”, ca. 1509. Glazed terracotta, 24.4 × 23.4 × 22.2 cm. London, Victoria and Albert Museum (Inv. no. 396–1889). © Victoria and Albert Museum, London 174
7.6 Giovanni di Nicola di Manzoni (?), “Nativity Inkstand”, ca. 1509. Glazed teracotta, 24 × 23 × 23 cm. Naples, Museo Duca di Martina (Inv. no. 958). Photograph by the author 175
7.7 Luca della Robbia, “Nativity with Gloria in Excelsis”, ca. 1470. Glazed terracotta, 88.9 × 73.7 cm. Boston, Museum of Fine Arts (Inv. no. 17.1463). © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 178
7.8 Fontana Family Workshop, “Inkstand with a Man Playing an Organ”, ca. 1580. Glazed terracotta, 38 × 27 × 22 cm. London, Victoria and Albert Museum (Inv. no. 8400–1863). © Victoria and Albert Museum, London 179
7.9 Anonymous Artist from Faenza (?), “Inkstand with Crib scene”, first half of the 16th century. Glazed terracotta, 22.5 × 14 cm. Cento, Private collection. Photograph by the author 180
8.1 Deruta, “St Francis Receiving the Stigmata”, 1531. Maiolica, diam. 41.3 cm. Cleveland Museum of Art. © The Cleveland Museum of Art 188
8.2 Deruta, “St Francis Receiving the Stigmata”, ca. 1500–1530. Lustred maiolica, diam. 40.8. Pesaro, Museo delle Ceramiche. © Musei Civici, Pesaro 189
8.3 Deruta, ca. 1540– 1560. Lustred maiolica. Philadelphia, private collection. Detail of footring, underside of dish. Photograph by the author 191
8.4 Vittore Carpaccio, Legend of St Ursula polyptych, “Arrival of the Ambassadors”, ca. 1498. Oil on canvas, 378 cm × 589 cm. Venice, Gallerie dell’Accademia. Detail. © Erich Lessing / Art Resource, NY 193
8.5 Deruta, “Madonna and Child”, ca. 1520–1530. Maiolica, diam. 40 cm. Musée des arts décoratifs de Lyon. © Lyon, MTMAD – Pierre Verrier (1700) 194
8.6 Deruta, Bella donna dish inscribed ORARE SEGRETO E MOLTO ACETTO A DIO (To pray in secret is most acceptable to God), ca. 1505–1520. Lustred maiolica, diam. 42.6 cm. Private collection. Photograph by the author 195
8.7 Deruta, “Jesus praying in Gethsemane”, ca. 1500–1510. Maiolica, diam. 43 cm. Faenza, Museo Internazionale delle Ceramiche. © Museo Internazionale delle Ceramiche, Faenza 197
8.8 Anonymous, Florence, “Jesus praying in Gethsemane”, ca. 1492. Woodcut from Girolamo Savonarola, Tractato overo sermone della oratione (Florence, Lorenzo Morgiani: 1492). Photograph by the author 198
8.9 Deruta, “The Annunciation”, ca. 1500–1520. Maiolica, diam. 40.1 cm. Kansas City, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. © The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO 199
8.10 Deruta, “The Passion of Jesus”, ca. 1500. Maiolica, diam. 47.5 cm. Ravenna, Museo Nazionale. © Museo Nazionale di Ravenna 200
8.11 Deruta, “The Crucifixion, with St Jerome and St Francis”, ca. 1540–1550. Lustred maiolica, diam. 42.2 cm. Musée des arts décoratifs de Lyon. © Lyon, MTMAD – Sylvain Pretto (1947) 202
8.12 Deruta, “St Jerome in the Wilderness”, ca. 1550–1560. Maiolica, diam. 41.5 cm. Private collection. Photograph by the author 204
8.13 Deruta, “St Catherine” ca. 1510–1530. Lustred maiolica, diam. 40.5 cm. London, Victoria and Albert Museum. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London 205
8.14 Deruta, “St Roch”, ca. 1500–1550. Lustred maiolica, diam. 41.8 cm. Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Museum. © The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge 206
8.15 Deruta, “The Incredulity of St Thomas”, ca. 1500–1530. Lustred maiolica, diam. 40.5 cm. Toronto, Gardiner Museum. © Gardiner Museum, Toronto 208
8.16 Deruta, “A Franciscan Monk Preaching from a Pulpit”, ca. 1540–1560. Maiolica, diam. 46.5 cm. Private collection. Photograph by the author 211
9.1 Agnus Dei, front, 16th century. Wax, Campion Hall Collections, Oxford. © Jesuit Institute, London 223
9.2 Agnus Dei, back, 16th century. Wax, Campion Hall Collections, Oxford. © Jesuit Institute, London 224
9.3 Bartolomeo Faleti, “Pope Pious V consecrating the ‘wax lamb’”, 1567. Etching on paper, 40 × 54, British Museum. © The Trustees of the British Museum 225
9.4 Pendant/Cameo, front, 16th century. Silver, shell, niello, gold, copper, 2.5 cm in diameter, British Museum. © The Trustees of the British Museum 233
9.5 Pendant/Cameo, back, 16th century. Silver, shell, niello, gold, copper, 2.5 cm in diameter, British Museum. © The Trustees of the British Museum 233
9.6 Medallion, 16th century. Silver, niello, gold, 2.5 cm in diameter, British Museum. © The Trustees of the British Museum 234
9.7 Pendant, 1400–1500. Silver, silver-gilt, 4 × 2.8 cm, Victoria and Albert Museum. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London 235
9.8 Medallion, front, 16th century. Silver, niello, gold, 2.5 diameter, British Museum. © The Trustees of the British Museum 236
9.9 Medallion, back, 16th century. Silver, niello, gold, 2.5 diameter, British Museum. © The Trustees of the British Museum 236
10.1 Title page of the Legenda et oratione di Santa Margherita vergine, & martire historiata; laqual oratione legendola, ouer ponendola adosso a vna donna, che non potesse parturire, subito parturirà senza pericolo, (Venice, Francesco de Tomaso di Salò e compagni: 1550). Woodcut and print on paper, octavo. London, The British Library, General Reference Collection C.38.b.34., not paginated. © British Library Board 249
10.2 “Lettera di rivelazione di Maria Ori [Letter of Revelation of Maria Ori]” found in the crypt of the Chiesa di San Paolo Apostolo, late sixteenth century. Ink on paper, seal wax, and woodcut encased in copper and glass. Roccapelago di Pievepelago, Museo delle Mummie di Roccapelago. © Museo delle Mummie di Roccapelago 253
10.3 Reverse of Fig. 10.2, “Lettera di rivelazione di Maria Ori [Letter of Revelation of Maria Ori]” © Museo delle Mummie di Roccapelago 254
10.4 Detail of Fig. 10.2, Woodcut image of the Madonna and Child on a copper backing with a glass cover. © Museo delle Mummie di Roccapelago 255
10.5 Breve found in the crypt of the Chiesa di San Paolo Apostolo, late sixteenth- early seventeenth century. Pressed paper image and devotional medallion in a cloth pouch. Roccapelago di Pievepelago, Museo delle Mummie di Roccapelago. © Photograph by the author 256
10.6 “Orazione della misura di Cristo [Prayer of the Measure of Christ]”, Italy, unsigned: before 1500. Red ink on paper, 10.5 × 22 cm. New York, The Morgan Library and Museum, Checklist: ChL 1360, PML 16529. © The Morgan Library and Museum 258
10.7 “Oratione devotissima alla matre di Dio trovata nel S. Sepolcro di Christo [Most Devout Prayer to the Mother of God found in the Holy Sepulchre of Christ]” (In Barzellona, e ristampata in Venetia, co[n] licenza de’ Superiori). Ink on Paper, 175 × 120 mm. Rome, Biblioteca Alessandrina, Miscellanea XIV D 27 8. © By kind permission of the Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali e il Turismo 259
10.8 “La sacra cintola”. Green wool with gold embroidery and two cords as ties. 87 cm (length) in the “Reliquary of the Sacra Cintola della Madonna” (Milan, 1638). Gold, enamel and rock crystal. Cathedral of Santo Stefano, Chapel of the Sacra Cintola. © Fototeca Ufficio Beni Culturali Diocesi di Prato 263
10.9 Girdle, ca. 1450. Tablet woven lampas with gilded and enamelled metal, nielloed silver and stamped brass. Victoria & Albert Museum, 4278–1857. Detail of the inscriptions on the two niello roundels, which read ‘AMORE. VOL’ and ‘SPERA. IN DIO’. © Victoria & Albert Museum, London 265
10.10 Giovanni di Ser Giovanni (lo Scheggia), “Madonna and Child with Angels”, ca. 1450–1480. Tempera on panel. Private Collection [Last Known: Collection H. Kisters, Kreuzlingen, Switzerland]. © Photo Library of the Federico Zeri Foundation. The property rights of the author have been met 267
11.1 Representation of a Painter, from a tomb in Cherson, Crimea, 3rd century. Saint Petersburg, The Hermitage Museum. Photograph by the author 274
11.2 Ceramic Iconostasis, 10th century. Preslav (Bulgaria), Archaeological Museum. Photograph by the author 275
11.3 Madonna di Santa Chiara, painted panel, Pisa, late 12th century. Pisa, National Museum of San Matteo. Photograph by the author 277
11.4 Madonna di sotto gli organi, icon, ca. 1200. Pisa, Cathedral of Our Lady. Photograph by the author 279
11.5 Andreas Ritzos, Mater de Perpetuo Succursu, ca. 1450, repainted in 1866. Rome, Sant’Alfonso all’Esquilino. Photo: after De Jonghe M., Roma Santuario mariano, Rome 1969, Fig. 109 284
11.6 Byzantine painter, Crucifixion and the Virgin with Child, painted panel, ca. 1370. Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum. © Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam 287
11.7 Cretan painter, Virgin and Child with Sts Anthony the Great, John the Baptist, Jerome, and Bernardine of Siena, painted triptych, ca. 1460. Prague, National Gallery. © National Gallery, Prague 289
13.1 “The Christ Child with the infant Saint John the Baptist with an unidentified male child”, sixteenth century. 42.5 × 35.6 cm, private collection. © Christie’s Images / Bridgeman Images 311
13.2 Leonardo da Vinci, “The Virgin and Child with a child and a cat, two studies of a child and a cat, and the Christ Child and infant Baptist embracing”, ca. 1490–1500. Pen and ink over red chalk with touches of wash on paper, 20.2 × 15.1 cm. Royal Collection, Windsor. Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2017 325
13.3 Marco d’Oggiono (?), “The Infant Christ and Saint John Embracing”, ca. 1500–1530. Oil on panel, 64.3 × 48.1 cm. Royal Collection, Windsor. Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2017 326
13.4 “Holy family with the infant St John”, sixteenth century. Oil on panel, 51 × 47 cm. Wellington Collection, Apsley House, London. © Historic England Archive 327
13.5 Bernardino Luini, “The Holy Family”, first half of the sixteenth century. Oil on panel, 100 × 84 cm. Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid. ｩ Museo Nacional del Prado 328
13.6 Attributed by Sotheby’s to Marco d’Oggiono, “The Christ with the infant St. John the Baptist”, early sixteenth century. Oil on panel, 43.8 × 36.2 cm. Private collection. © 2017 Art Works Fine Art Publishing, Los Angeles 329
13.7 Bernardino dei Conti (?), “Madonna and Child with the Infant St John the Baptist”, 1496. Oil on panel, Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan. © Mondadori Portfolio/Electa/Sergio Anelli / Bridgeman Images 331
13.8 “Madonna and Child with St. John”, ca. 1510. Oil on panel, 22.7 × 18.5 cm. Galleria dell’ Accademia Carrara, Bergamo. © Bridgeman Images 332
13.9 Bernardino Luini, “Virgin and Child with the Infant Saint John the Baptist”, 1523–1525. Oil on canvas, 86 × 60 cm. Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid. © Fundación Colección Thyseen-Bornemisza 335
13.10 “The Christ Child”, early sixteenth century. Oil on panel, 19.5 × 15.5 cm. Museo Poldi Pezzoli, Milan. © Museo Poldi Pezzoli 337
14.1 Alberto da Castello, Rosario della gloriosa Vergine Maria (Venice, s.n.: 1521), frontispiece. By kind permission of the Biblioteca Consorziale di Viterbo 348
14.2 Alberto da Castello, Rosario della gloriosa Vergine Maria (Venice, s.n.: 1521) fols. 78v–79r. By kind permission of the Biblioteca Consorziale di Viterbo 349
14.3 Alberto da Castello, Rosario della gloriosa Vergine Maria (Venice, s.n.: 1521), fols. 162r–163v. By kind permission of the Biblioteca Consorziale di Viterbo 350
14.4 Luis de Granada, Rosario della sacratissima Vergine Maria, raccolto dall’opere del R.P.F. Luigi di Granata (Venice, Gioanne Varisco et Compagni: 1578) 56. By kind permission of the Biblioteca del Seminario del Polo Teologico Torinese, Turin 353
14.5 Luis de Granada, Rosario della sacratissima Vergine Maria, raccolto dall’opere del R.P.F. Luigi di Granata (Venice, Gioanne Varisco et Compagni: 1578) 136. By kind permission of the Biblioteca del Seminario del Polo Teologico Torinese, Turin 355
14.6 Strata Niccolò, Compendio dell’ordine e della regola del santissimo Rosario della gloriosa vergine (Turin, Gio. Michele, & ff. de’ Cauallerij: 1588) fols. 78v–79r. By kind permission of the Centro Teologico, Turin 356
14.7 Strata Niccolò, Compendio dell’ordine e della regola del santissimo Rosario della gloriosa vergine (Turin, Gio. Michele, & ff. de’ Cauallerij: 1588) fols. 77v–78r. By kind permission of the Centro Teologico, Turin 357
14.8 Aresi Paolo, Imprese sacre con triplicati discorsi illustrate & arricchite a’ predicatori, à gli studiosi della Scrittura Sacra VI (Tortona, Calenzano & Viola: 1634–5) 219. By kind permission of the Biblioteca dei Cappuccini di Torino 358
14.9 Bracchi T. Le due imprese delle due catene de’ rosarii (Brescia: Antonio Ricciardi, 1633) frontispiece. By kind permission of the Staatliche Bibliothek Regensburg, 999/4Asc.162 360