Saint Philip Neri’s vision

Painted in 1656 by the artists Orazio Fidani and Lorenzo Lippi.
It is a rather large vertical oil on canvas: 188 cm high by 135 cm wide, as high as a medium-sized door.
The theme of the artwork is the Apparition of the Virgin and Child to Saint Philip Neri, a representation that was extremely widespread in the seventeenth century starting from the prototype created by Guido Reni in 1614 for the church of Saint Mary in Vallicella in Rome, where Philip Neri founded the Congregation of the Oratory.
In the foreground, the Saint occupies almost the entire right side of the painting. He kneels with open arms, and his gaze turns with serenity and devotion upwards. In fact, in the upper left part, the Madonna appears half-torso, holding the child. With a delicate chiaroscuro that also affects the Saint, the Virgin is surrounded by a series of angelic heads that appear like clouds.
The saint wears a white priestly liturgical chasuble in brocade with red plant motifs. These clothes strengthen the Saint's bond with Prato as they are similar to the liturgical parade of Saint Stephen's Cathedral which was in use in the 17th century. A thin, bright halo surrounds the Saint's head, and three angels stand above it to observe the scene.
One of the Saint's attributes lies at his knees in the lower left corner of the picture: a bunch of white lilies.
An image of Prato’s Cathedral Square can be seen on the left side of the painting, where a solemn procession is taking place in the background. In addition to the mystical vision, this canvas documents the arrival at the cathedral of the first bishop of Prato, Monsignor Giovanni Gerini, by depicting the majestic procession that accompanied his solemn entry on 4 January 1653. The spin-off of the diocese of Prato from that of Pistoia represented a very important event because Prato was recognised with some autonomy, leading Grand Duke Ferdinando II to subsequently grant it the title of “city”. 
The chapel of the Town Hall to which this canvas was originally destined, commissioned by the Congregation of the Oratory, was named after Saint Philip Neri, who is considered one of the protectors of Prato and who in this canvas invokes the protection of the Virgin on the city.
Compared to the comforting golden light emanating from the Virgin's apparition, the sky above the Cathedral is dark.
This painting was one of Orazio Fidani's last works before his sudden death at the beginning of 1656 - leaving it unfinished. It was completed by the young painter Lorenzo Lippi, chosen for his ability to imitate Fidani's style.