A truly unique fresco can be found in the Portinari Chapel: on the south wall, in fact, a Madonna with horns is depicted. More than a blasphemy, the fresco by Vincenzo Foppa, entitled The Miracle of the False Madonna, illustrates a legend linked to the figure of Saint Peter of Verona, born Pietro Rosini; a figure to whom the chapel commissioned by the Florentine banker Pigello Portinari (1421-1468) is dedicated.
According to tradition, while celebrating Mass in Sant’Eustorgio, Saint Peter of Verona noticed that the devil had penetrated an icon of Mary placed above the altar. He immediately cast out the demon, together with a heretic magician portrayed on the right, holding a consecrated host between his fingers. Once she had performed her exorcism, however, according to legend, the Madonna was left with Lucifer’s horns in the painting.
In reality, Foppa wanted to document the aversion that existed at the time in that place for the cult of the Virgin.
