The cult of the saints was practised to varying degrees in the three religions of the Book. For certain Christian denominations, the phenomenon began in late Antiquity, when the concept of divinity was familiar and immediately accessible. It encompassed, however, irreducibly plural influences. There was often a divergence of customs and even contradictions between the Churches and the worshippers. Under the Byzantine influence, the theme of the Virgin and Child became codified during the Middle Ages and symbolically transposed the relationship between the Church and Christ. Between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries, the spirituality of the mendicant orders imbued these representations with greater humanity. Popular statuary reflected this influence by generally depicting the Madonna in the humble posture of a caring and loving mother. The child’s gesture of pulling at the sides of the maternal veil underlines that fact that Mary suffered—more than any other—the pain inherent to the human condition. Hence, popular piety particularly focused on Mary, and the relationship was a filial one due to to her ‘carisma curationis’—her capacity to heal afflicted bodies and appease the torments of the soul. As both queen and mother, the Madonna was perceived as the mediator par excellence between Heaven and Earth; she was seen as tolerant and caring, and interceding on behalf of those whose condition she was aware of but whose faults she did not share.