Photographer Andrea Modica describes a striking portrait of a horse surgeon taken after emergency surgery at a hospital near Bologna. Covered in blood and intestinal matter, the surgeon appears both powerful and vulnerable, while the image’s resemblance to a medieval Madonna creates a tension between beauty, religious symbolism and horror.

The photograph was made about six years ago using Modica’s large-format 8×10 camera, as part of a wider project documenting horses, surgery and breeding practices at the hospital. Modica chose to photograph the surgeon outside in the shade, allowing the blood on her clothing and the details of her pose to stand out; the image is included in her exhibition *Andrea Modica: Italian Story* at Alice Austen House in New York until 20 February.