Madonna del Rosario (Damaskinos)

Madonna del Rosario was a painting made of egg tempera on a wood panel nearly 11 feet in height. The work of art was signed by Greek painter Michael Damaskinos and the painter's existing catalog features over 100 known works. Damaskinos was from the island of Crete, and he was a prominent member of the Cretan school of painting. His contemporaries were Georgios Klontzas and El Greco. Damaskinos was known for integrating the Venetian style of painting with the maniera greca creating his own unique style. The Madonna del Rosario follows the Venetian style. The painter frequently traveled from Crete to Venice but also spent time painting in Sicily and Conversano from 1569 to 1575. He was familiar with the works of Mannerist Parmigianino and other Italian painters because he purchased a collection of drawings from his friend, Italian sculptor Alessandro Vittoria. Damaskinos was influenced by the works of Venetian masters Palma Giovane, Paolo Veronese, Tintoretto and Titian.

From the onset of early Christianity; knotted prayer ropes were used by the Desert Fathers to keep track of the number of times they said the Jesus prayer or the 150 psalms. Both Greek and Italian priests implemented a similar method in their monasteries. Saint Dominic is originally credited for founding the Dominican Order and spreading and popularizing the rosary. By the 15th century, Alanus de Rupe Dominican priest and theologian helped spread the devotion of the Rosary to many countries and established many Rosary confraternities before his death on September 8, 1475, and by the 1500s there were 15 mysteries of the Rosary, one for each of the 15 decades, and from the 16th to the early 20th century the structure of the Rosary remained essentially unchanged. The Rosary began to accumulate popularity during the 1500s, and Venetian painter Lorenzo Lotto painted his version of the 15 mysteries of the Rosary, including a pictorial representation of each mystery in 1539 entitled Madonna of the Rosary (Lotto). Pope Pius V issued Consueverunt Romani Pontifices on September 17, 1569, a papel degree formalizing the 15 mysteries of the Rosary.

The mysteries are 15 scenes from the life of the Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ, including the Annunciation, Crucifixion, and Resurrection. They are categorized into three parts: the five joyful mysteries, the five sorrowful mysteries, and the five glorious mysteries. Damaskinos painted his version three years after the papal decree in 1572. About two hundred fifty years later Italian painter Samuele Tatulli painted a version of Madonna Del Rosaria in Conversano, Italy and a second version of Madonna Del Rosaria appeared in Taranto, Italy, fifty-six miles away from Conversano resembling Damaskinos' version of the painting where rosary beads connect circular pictures of the mysteries of the Rosary. The veneration of the mysteries of the Rosary is similar to the pictorial veneration of the 24 components of the Akathist Hymn present in Virgin Glykofilousa with the Akathist Hymn (Tzangarolas). Another important work featuring the Madonna Del Rosary with the 15 mysteries of the Rosary, attributed to Damaskinos, was completed in 1574, where the rosary surrounds small circular paintings of the mysteries. The work is in Molfetta, Italy, at the Basilica della Madonna dei Martiri at the Alter of Our Lady of the Rosary and is entitled Madonna of the Rosary among Saints, Pope Pius V, Bishop Maiorano, Cesare Gonzaga and Camilla Borromeo. The Madonna del Rosario by Damaskinos is at the Monastery of San Benedetto in Conversano, Italy 65 kilometers away from Molfetta in the same Metropolitan region of Bari.