According to Caravaggio 

A lot of people asked me why I didn't paint anything about my country... Now I did. The first portrait is of Karima, better known as "Ruby Rubacuori": the underage prostitute engaged by former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. Caravaggio would have done the same: make a portrait of a Madonna using a prostitute as a model. Also Pinturicchio made a similar portrait of the pope's lover: a very beautiful Madonna. This is for me the real metaphorical story of my country.

The other portrait is of a friend of mine, she is an artist too. I am very fond of her...