In this fresco painting located in the Tuscan town of Monterchi, two angels pull back a curtain and unveil Piero della Francesca’s stunning Madonna. This work of art features the wound that generates God: she is a woman, and she is at the centre of the mystery of incarnation. She is not merely a medium through which the spirit is incarnated. In Piero’s powerful icon, Mary holds up her round womb and unfastens her robe to make the enigma manifest. Her figure appears natural and true, perfect and divine at the same time: a cosmos that creates, opens itself up, and bestows. The cry she utters in giving birth will be repeated under the Cross, and then again – perhaps expressing joy – during the Assumption. This woman’s image reflects anticipation, promise, anguish, hope, and forsakenness – all of which come together in an orderly and enduring way. And the Son is her child, her brother, or her bridegroom.

Massimo Cacciari is professor emeritus of Philosophy at San Raffaele University in Milan.