She's currently preparing for the release of her first album in six years, but gave fans something else to talk about as she ventured out in Venice on Thursday.
Wearing a full length quilted coat and large sunglasses, the pop legend looked subdued as she climbed aboard a water taxi during her current stay in the historic Italian city.
Madonna - currently in Venice to film the second season of satirical TV show The Studio - appeared to be making her way towards Palazzo del Cinema on the Lido after leaving Aman Hotel with a small group of assistants.
But a mysterious white bandage was still visible beneath her right eye, suggesting the singer, 67, had suffered an unexplained accident over recent days.
Madonna landed at Marco Polo airport on March 15, a wide-brimmed Gucci hat covering her eyes as she made her way towards a waiting car.
Subsequent appearances in the city have been equally enigmatic; her last, on Wednesday, saw the singer shield herself beneath another enormous hat before her entourage concealed her from public view behind a flurry of umbrellas.
Madonna revealed a mysterious white bandage beneath her right eye as she ventured out in Venice on Thursday
Madonna, the best-selling female artist of all time, confirmed last year that she will .
The singer is returning to the Warner Records label, associated with her early hits such as Like a Virgin and Holiday in the 1980s. She left Warner in 2007 after signing a huge contract with Live Nation records.
'I am happy to be reunited and look forward to the future, making music, doing the unexpected while perhaps provoking a few needed conversations,' the seven-time Grammy winner said in a statement.
It will be her first studio record in seven years. The album will be produced by Stuart Price, the DJ and songwriter with whom she released Confessions on a Dance Floor in 2005.
'We are honored to welcome Madonna back home to Warner Records. Madonna isn't just an artist, she's the blueprint, the rule-breaker, the ultimate cultural juggernaut,' said Tom Corson and Aaron Bay-Schuck, co-chairmen of Warner Records.
Among many other honours, Madonna was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2008. She has sold more than 400 million records worldwide.
And behind-the-scenes there has been a lot of preparations underway for her racy comeback video.
A crew of 200 people reportedly descended on a top-secret location in the UK this week to start work on the adventurous video.
'Madonna could have started drawing her state pension last year! But instead she's been plotting a massive comeback,' a source told The Sun.
Wearing a full length quilted coat and large sunglasses, the pop legend looked subdued as she climbed aboard a water taxi during her current stay in the historic Italian city
Madonna is currently in Venice to film the second season of actor Seth Rogen's satirical TV show The Studio
She was seen leaving the Aman Hotel and heading towards the Palazzo del Cinema on the Lido
A mysterious white bandage was visible beneath her right eye, suggesting the singer had suffered an unexplained accident over recent days
'And far from toning herself down, Madonna is ramping up the sex. This music video is going to push boundaries and shock.
'She has employed a top intimacy co-ordinator to be on set to make sure that everyone feels comfortable and that everything they're doing is in a controlled environment.
'Madonna never wants to be pigeonholed and although she, she wants the public to know she is still the ultimate pop sex symbol.'
