Talk:Madonna and Child with Saints Luke and Catherine of Alexandria

What's with the "a"?

I'm having trouble figuring out this odd title, A Sacra Conversazione: The Madonna and Child with Saints Luke and Catherine of Alexandria. The sacra conversazione part is in Italian; the part after the colon is in English; this is already strange enough. But the A makes no sense at all that I can see. In Portuguese, the feminine singular definite article is a instead of la, but I have never heard of this in Italian (though it's possible I suppose that this was true in Titian's dialect).

Another possibility, I suppose, is that the entire title is supposed to be in English, except for sacra conversazione treated as a loan-phrase; something like "a pietà", in which case the a is just the English indefinite article. Now, that would be really awkward.

Anyone who knows anything about this, please clarify in the article. Also, if you have the title in Italian (or whatever exactly Titian spoke), please add that as well. --Trovatore (talk) 11:47, 30 January 2011 (UTC)

A Sacra Conversazione?

I am not sure I am able to parse the words "A Sacra Conversazione". Is "a" the English article? If so, why, given that the rest is in Italian? I am quite sure the title should simply be Sacra conversazione and the "a" is a spurious addition, appeared in the media somewhere along the way. Goochelaar (talk) 11:51, 30 January 2011 (UTC)

(I see that Trovatore and I have had the same concern, simultaneously!) Goochelaar (talk) 12:05, 30 January 2011 (UTC)