Maria. Magnifico libro di Dio

The book describes the many aspects of a very special collection that over the years has led Francesca Orlandi, an art historian, to collect and classify prints, reproductions, paintings and souvenirs made for the cult of the Madonna of Montenero, for the use of pilgrims who still come in great numbers to the Sanctuary of the Patron Saint of sailors. 

Acquisitions that began in the late 1980s were followed by countless others through purchases, gifts, donations and interesting, even fortuitous discoveries. 

Two art historians wrote the texts of historical and historical-artistic interest: Silvia Nannipieri examined the devotion to the Madonna of Montenero and how this phenomenon spread rapidly and capillary to reach far beyond the borders of Italy; Claudio Casini illustrated the iconographic sources and historical references from which the paintings, prints and objects celebrating the Madonna took their cue and refer.

The collected works are popular in style but sometimes conceal echoes and connections with peculiar historical and artistic sources. A painstaking and most of all unique work.