The Baby Jesus of the hands

From a private collection, an unpublished painting by Pinturicchio in the Borgia apartments at the Vatican re-emerges after more than 500 years, and is able to reveal the mystery of a unique Renaissance event.

The rediscovery of this unpublished work by Pinturicchio, only known previously by means of historians' indications, is an event of great significance for the world of art. Part of a fresco created in about 1492 in the Borgia Apartments at the Vatican, which then mysteriously disappeared – and has been so greatly searched for over the centuries to the point that it has been believed to never exist – the painting in question represents the corner stone of this most unique composition.

This painting portrays a blessing Baby Jesus of incomparable beauty, delicately held by three hands which reveal an intimate connection to other enigmatic characters, just out of the picture.
Hence the name: Bambin Gesù delle Mani.
The work, recently acquired by the Margaritelli  Group and then entrusted to the Guglielmo Giordano Foundation to promote its study and to make it known, was presented in preview to the press on Monday the 19th of June 2006 at Rome, at the Civita office, by Franco Ivan Nucciarelli, a Pinturicchio scholar, who is responsible not only for launching the painting onto the international antique circuit, but also for the meticulous reconstruction of its impressive historical and artistic itinerary, and by Claudio Strinati, Head of the museum system of Rome.

The absolute preview of the work provided the occasion to trace the fascinating story of this lost fresco, a unique witness to an intriguing and scandalous Renaissance occurrence, whose protagonists are Pope Alessandro Borgia and his lover Giulia Farnese, which is the reason why this work was initially condemned to be destroyed, and then – saved only by the strength of its irresistible beauty – was simply destined to oblivion. The work re-emerges only now from this condition, thanks to an impressive series of concomitances which seem to wish to demonstrate how powerful the unpredictable influence of fate is – in determining both the human course of events and the history of art.