What is the object above Mary's right shoulder in the painting "The Madonna with Saint Giovannino"

Question

15th century by Domenico Ghirlandaio

Answer 1

This is like trying to interpret the imagery in Hieronymus Bosch's paintings.
The problem:
Much of the traditional meaning behind these odd little doo-dads has been lost to time.
Putting a modern spin on these images is fun but overall it diminishes the art work.

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Answer 2

It looks like a ship with oars sticking out. But it's in the sky. So it's a ship in the sky! UFO! Maybe it was put there so that people would still be talking about the painting 500 years later?

Answer 3

Wow!!! It's either a UFO or a hairy frisbee!

http://www.crystalinks.com/ufohistory.html
http://photo.livevideo.com/photo/771701EE19A04C70896B1229DC2F67BB/the-madonna-with-saint-giovann.aspx