There is a recurring fresco from the Marsciano area depicting the "Madonna of Mercy" The Virgin stands large while spreading her cloak to welcome the kneeling faithful beneath it. It's a legacy of medieval times, known as cloak protection, which noblewomen could give to those in need of protection. This consisted precisely in giving them symbolic shelter under their own cloak, which was considered inviolable.

In the process of spreading this iconographic type, all of mankind became sheltered under the Virgin's cloak: men and women, children, members of religious brotherhoods and trade congregations, bishops and popes, kings and emperors. The figure of Our Lady, which was portrayed as the protector of mankind from the evils of the world, was called the Lady of Help, Our Lady of Consolation, Notre-Dame de Consolation in France, Schutzmantelmadonna ("Our Lady of the Protective Cloak") in Germany, Our Lady of Recommendations in Sardinia, etc.