Madonna di Loreto (Madonna of the Pilgrims)

Mary stands barefoot in a doorway as two elderly pilgrims kneel before her — with visibly dirty, mud-caked feet shown directly to the viewer. A contemporary critic complained it was 'inappropriate to depict so poorly and with such irreverence.' The Romans who visited were overwhelmed — they recognised their own poverty and devotion. One of the most radical statements in the history of devotional painting.