2. Madonna of the Pillar

It is also called the “Madonna of the Blind” because it was once the place in the Basilica where blind people begged for alms. It was painted in the second half of the 14th century by Stefano da Ferrara, a highly refined Gothic painter.
The Madonna of the Pillar is one of more than 100 images of the Virgin in the Basilica, which, as the inscription at the foot of the statue of the Saint on the façade reminds us, is in fact dedicated to both St. Anthony and St. Mary Mater Domini, the nucleus around which the construction of the Basilica developed.