The Madonna of the Rosary is a painting finished in 1607 by the
Italian Baroque painter
Caravaggio, now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
It is the only painting by Caravaggio that could be called a standard
Baroque altarpiece.
The commissioner of the work is uncertain. As altarpiece it would have been commissioned for a Dominican church, given the presence of Saint Dominic and Saint Peter Martyr of Verona.
The donor is included in the painting; at the left, dressed in black with a ruff, seeking protection under the cloak of Saint Dominic and peering out at the viewer.
According to some, the donor was Nicholas (or Nicholas) Radulovic, a rich merchant of Ragusa (now Dubrovnik in Croatia) and the first idea for the composition was a Madonna Enthroned with Saints Nicholas and Vito, then the subject was changed to reflect the wishes of the Dominicans.