Unknown painter, before 1171
Madonna Hodighítria called ‘of the Pearl’ or ‘Pearled’
painting on wood with gold background (140×93 cm)
Palermo, Diocesan Museum, from Monastery of Saint Mary de Latinis or ‘of the Chacellor’

This painting is one of the oldest and most famous medieval Marian images preserved in Sicily.
It represents on a golden background the Madonna Hodighítria, that is “She who shows the way” of salvation, that is, the Son she carries in her arms, blessing, with a wide forehead and with the closed scroll tight in his left hand, symbols of wisdom and of the new evangelical law.
Its traditional denomination is Madonna of the Pearl (or Pearled), after the several jewels (pearls and emeralds) that decorated the original silver covers, now lost.
A second name, Madonna of the Great Chancellor, recalls that it was donated in 1171 to the nun Marotta by the powerful Matteo da Salerno, vice-chancellor (deputy prime minister) of the Kingdom of Sicily under William II of Hauteville (who designated his aunt Constance as his heir), and chancellor of Tancred (1138-1194), Count of Lecce, the last of the Norman lineage.
Marotta, a relative of Matteo’s mother, was the first abbess of the female monastery of Palermo founded by him, known as Saint Mary “de Latinis” to distinguish it from other Greek monasteries with the same name or “of the Great Chacellor”.