Madonna and Child with Saint Anne (Madonna dei Palafrenieri)

Merisi Michelangelo called Caravaggio
(Milan 1571 - Porto Ercole 1610)

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Commissioned by the Archconfraternity of the Papal Grooms (Palafrenieri) for their chapel dedicated to St. Anne in St. Peter’s, the painting was rejected, probably at the prompting of Pope Paul V. The latter was sure that putting the work on the art market would please his nephew Cardinal Scipione Borghese, who immediately bought it at a low price.