How many Americans have Italian origins? Many. But not all Italian Americans can boast an ancestor like Ventura Mazza, a student of Federico Barocci, the Urbino painter who was a key figure in Italian Mannerism and the art of the Counter-Reformation, considered one of the precursors of Baroque. The protagonist of this story is Maria Theresa Siclare, who recently visited Urbino for the first time with her husband Will.

While touring the Ducal Palace, the couple asked social media manager Mattia Tabanelli where Ventura Mazza's painting could be found. The young man from Urbino took their request to heart and managed to capture the moment when Maria Theresa and her husband Will were able to see the painting of their ancestor.

Maria Theresa had conducted thorough research, developed a genealogical analysis with her 103-year-old mother, and through searches on various websites, such as the State Archive, she discovered that Mazza was her seventh great-grandfather. Her mother, originally from Catanzaro, had moved to Connecticut at a young age, where her daughter also lives. Following her research, Maria Theresa had visited Cantiano several times, curious about her genealogy, her past, and her history.

This was the first time in Urbino with her husband. The collaborator of the Galleria Nazionale delle Marche, who helped the couple find the painting, highlighted the emotion, enthusiasm, and passion in experiencing the moment and the place. "I felt that there was a part of me here. And today, seeing this work, I found it," Maria Theresa is said to have expressed.

This trip had been eagerly awaited by the protagonist, who had studied and planned it, and there could not have been a better outcome. "In front of the painting Ecce Homo, Mrs. Siclare recognized not only a work of art but a deep, ancient bond made of blood, talent, and memory," the Urbino museum's post notes, which has been very successful on social media.

It was as if history had made a perfect circle, bringing a descendant to see with her own eyes the work that tells of him, of them, of the family.

Ecce Homo is a unique painting: started by Barocci, who made the cartoon and painted Christ's feet before his death, it was completed by Ventura Mazza, his student and our protagonist. The result? A work that vibrates with beauty and continuity, where master and disciple meet on the same canvas.