Glowing UFO was discovered in a 16th century painting of Mary and Jesus: what is known about it

Fans of conspiracy theories have unexpectedly discovered "evidence" that aliens visited the Earth in ancient times. According to the conspiracy theorists, there is a hint of this in the painting Mary and Child with the Young Saint John.

At first glance, the painting does not appear to be particularly bizarre, but several nuances do make one think about what one has seen. In particular, we are talking about a shining oval object in the sky and a shepherd who is watching it with his hand to his forehead.

The painting dates from around the 16th century. Scholars are unable to establish who the author was, but they name four artists: Domenico Ghirlandaio, Filippino Lippi, Sebastiano Mainardi, and Jacopo del Sellaio.

It is known for certain that the work comes from the forgotten monastery of Sant'Orsola in the San Lorenzo district of Florence.

Mary and the UFO

The painting, which has already gained fame online under the name "Madonna and UFO", is located in the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence. It has a rounded shape, a diameter of one metre and is decorated with a precious gold frame.

After a strange object was spotted in the sky behind Mary's left shoulder, the painting became the subject of numerous disputes between art historians and ufologists.

The foreground of the painting depicts the Nativity of Christ with the infant John, and in the background, a man can be seen watching the UFO with interest.

The circular canvas depicts a familiar iconographic motif: in the foreground, Mary kneels with folded hands, bending down to the infant lying on the hem of her garment.

Next to the little Jesus, who is reaching out to his mother with his hands, stands the young Saint John.

But the most interesting thing is happening in the background, where an oval object is visible in the sky, very similar to modern images of UFOs. It also shows a man with a dog watching this shining object in the sky.

Is it really a UFO?

Ufologists use this picture to prove that UFO sightings date back to the distant past. In particular, they argue that the object in the painting is too similar to the way traditional science fiction describes extraterrestrial spacecraft.

However, art historians are convinced that there is no UFO in the painting. In their opinion, the flying saucer is really a shining angel that looks like a cloud. Although the depiction of an angel in a non-human form is quite rare, such a description is found in the Holy Scriptures, especially in the apocryphal Gospels.

Another evidence in favour of the fact that the painting depicts an angel, not a UFO, is that in many paintings of the Florentine Renaissance, the Nativity was accompanied by the Annunciation.

A male shepherd is also present in those paintings. He holds his hand over his forehead, shielding his eyes from the light of the "Glory of God", which is mentioned in many passages of the Gospels.

In many cases, the angel comes out of a cloud, surrounded by light or, in the earliest paintings, golden rays.

Earlier, OBOZREVATEL reported that a giant red UFO was photographed over Italy, which turned out to be a rather rare natural phenomenon.

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