Trees but not really a wood

An early morning walk, to take advantage of the driest weather available today.  Lots of banging, drilling and general commotion suggests the kitchen is progressing well.

The early 1600s were a prolific period for Caravaggio, in which he painted a number of religious subjects in highly realistic style, using poor citizens as models for Biblical characters. One good example is The Madonna of Loreto (1604-6) in the church of Sant' Agostino in Rome. 

The legend has it that Christ spent his childhood in a house, which in the 13th century was miraculously transported from Nazareth via Croatia to Loreto, on the Adriatic coast of Italy. Caravaggio's picture makes the house a simple Roman doorway, with his Madonna a recognisably Italian woman - in fact his model was his lover - Lena Antongetti.  Some were scandalised by normality of the scene in which the Madonna, of all people, had bare feet! It is thought that Caravaggio relished the scandal.