This
well-known artwork has been widely
reproduced on Christmas cards, holy
cards and other objects. The
original was painted by Roberto
Ferruzzi, who was a familiar sight
in Italy during the final years of
the Victorian era.
Although Ferruzzi called the
painting “Madonnina,” it is better
known today as “Madonna of the
Streets.” Some reproductions show
embellishments (billowing clouds and
halos) that were added over the
years to enhance religious
interpretation.
The location of Ferruzzi’s original
painting is unknown. But a startling
story about the history of the
artwork was uncovered when the
daughter of Italian immigrants
traced her roots. Mary Bovo, now
known as Sister Angela Marie, shared
her discovery before suffering a
stroke last August. After reading
her story, you will understand why
her family is on a quest to find
Ferruzzi’s original painting.
Angelina and Antonio Bovo left Italy
and settled in Oakland, California,
in 1906. Mary Bovo was the seventh
of their 10 children. The family
lived comfortably until 1929, when
42-year-old Antonio was stricken
with influenza and died.
His
bereft widow, unskilled in English,
struggled to provide for her large
family. But the stress caught up
with Angelina: She suffered a
devastating nervous breakdown and
spent the rest of her life in a
mental hospital. The four younger
Bovo children, including
eight-year-old Mary, were placed in
orphanages and foster homes.
Although the children were
scattered, they managed to keep
track of each other and remained
devoted to their mother until her
death in 1972.
When Mary Bovo was in the fifth
grade at a Catholic orphanage, her
teacher was Sister Angela. This
teacher was much revered by Mary,
who recalls, “It was then and there
that God called me” to religious
life.
Years later, Mary Bovo entered the
Order of Saint Joseph of Carondelet,
a venerable French community founded
in 1650. She became Sister Angela
Marie, in honor of her mother and
her fifth-grade teacher.
Throughout her life, Sister Angela
Marie was haunted by questions about
her family. Her father’s sudden
death followed by her mother’s
mental breakdown resulted in a
complete cessation of communication
with relatives who still lived in
Venice, Italy. Were any of them
still alive? What could they tell
her about her ancestry?
With the encouragement of the
Sisters of Saint Joseph of
Carondelet, Sister Angela Marie went
to Italy in 1984. She located two of
her mother’s sisters, who were then
in their 80’s. These relatives had
given up hope of ever finding out
what became of their beloved sibling
who went to the United States after
her marriage many years earlier.
Imagine their emotions upon meeting
one of her offspring. “I resemble my
mother,” notes Sister Angela Marie.
Aunt Giulia still lived in the same
Venetian house where she grew up
with 14 brothers and sisters. The
frail aunt had something special to
show her niece: It was a likeness of
Sister Angela Marie’s mother when
she was a young girl.
The image was not a faded photo. It
was a print of Roberto Ferruzzi’s
popular “Madonnina.” Sister Angela
Marie was informed that her mother
modeled for the painting around the
turn of the last century.
She had seen prints of the popular
portrait many times and assumed it
to be just another Madonna
rendering. But she had no idea that
her mother was the young girl with
the beatific face who posed for the
artist so long ago in Venice.
The Bovo family was thrilled by this
discovery but felt compelled to
verify the story. They tracked down
Roberto Ferruzzi’s two surviving
nephews, who had preserved the
artist’s personal notes.
Those documents provided
indisputable proof that Sister
Angela Marie Bovo’s mother was the
young girl in “Madonnina.” In
addition, the baby in the painting
was identified as the girl’s brother
Giovanni, who was one year old at
the time.
Ferruzzi had been in Venice when he
noticed the girl with the baby— she
was draped against the cold and
holding the child close to help them
both stay warm. It was obvious that
Angelina, then 11, was too young to
be the baby’s mother. But she
displayed an arresting maternal
gentleness that was irresistible to
the artist.
How Ferruzzi was able to persuade
this girl from a good family to pose
for him remains a mystery. Was it
flattery? Did he offer a significant
monetary incentive that this child
from a large family couldn’t resist?
Angelina couldn’t wait to report the
exciting adventure to her mother,
who was so shocked that she swore
the child to secrecy. It appears
that Angelina never broke her word:
“Mother never mentioned the painting
to us either before or after she
became ill,” says Sister Angela
Marie. “She kept the secret in her
heart.”
Ferruzzi entered the portrait in a
prestigious 1897 exhibition in
Venice. While he later denied there
was any intention of portraying the
Blessed Mother, he provocatively
titled the work “Madonnina,” or
“Little Mother.”
But Catholic art lovers in Italy
promptly perceived it to be a fresh
and charming depiction of Mary and
the Christ Child. That misconception
is probably responsible for the
painting’s enduring popularity—the
image is a dependable seller in
stores that sell religious goods.
A few other Ferruzzi paintings
warranted exhibition in the elite
museums of Venice and Turin, winning
him contemporaneous acclaim. But
today Ferruzzi is all but forgotten,
save for his “Madonnina” that became
well-known in Italy and the
international Catholic world.
The heavy influx of Italians passing
through Ellis Island in the early
1900’s introduced Catholic America
to the portrait, which was embraced
enthusiastically. The image showed
the young girl’s vulnerability and
sweetness. In addition, the timeless
nature of her mantle and the cold
background suggested the new title
under which the artwork was so
successfully marketed: “Madonna of
the Streets.”
While Sister Angela Marie is
delighted by the popularity of her
mother’s portrait, she explains why
her relatives don’t like the title
“Madonna of the Streets.” “My family
in Italy feels that streets refers
to prostitution,” she says. “The
original title, ‘Madonnina,’
actually means ‘Little Mother.’”
That interpretation is a more
accurate description of the young
girl holding her baby brother.
 |
|
Photo Courtesy of Sister
Angela Marie Bovo
This
famous painting became more
meaningful to Sister Angela
Marie Bovo after she
discovered that the subjects
were close relatives. |
Sister Angela Marie says, “The
family has tried to locate the
original—I would love to see it.”
The painting vanished from Italy,
perhaps during World War II. It may
be in the innocent hands of someone
who has no idea of its value or its
significance to the Bovo family.
Sister Angela Marie says the most
recent lead suggests that it is
“somewhere in Pennsylvania,”
unwittingly donated by an
unidentified priest to a
parishioner’s private art collection
about 50 years ago. The family
hasn’t given up hope of finding
their missing Madonnina. “We
wouldn’t question the ownership at
all. We just wish to see the
painting with our own eyes—touch the
brush strokes, realize the true
colors and know that they were
applied at the moment the artist was
close to our mother and uncle.”
