via Sant'antonino
corner via faenza
corner via faenza
the tabernacles of florence
THE TABERNACLE
Madonna col Bambino
Inside, within a sumptuous white stucco framing -surely made in imitation of marble - composed of angels figures in a clouds glory, there is the image of the Madonna and Child, painted in a manner still 14th-century: the three-quarter-length Virgin holding the blessing Son.
Tabernacle
The aedicule containing the fresco is surmounted by a low arched frame supported by corbels. The shape of the tabernacle repeats in its terminal part this typology, which can be defined as 18th-century. A wrought-iron arm, adorned with elegant scrolls, supports the lantern, while in the center of the curved tympanum, a cartouche bears an inscription indicative of the year the aedicule was made: "BENEFATTORI / DI MARIA / 1731” (“BENEFACTORS / OF MARY / 1731”)
THE STREET
Via Sant'Antonino
The street is dedicated today to Antonino Pierozzi, an enlightened archbishop of Florence. In ancient times it was divided into shorter sections with different names. The first stretch, up to Via Faenza, was called Via dell'Amore, as the short cross street of Via dell'Amorino still reminds us. The next section up to Via dell'Ariento was called Via della Cella di Ciardo and, finally, Via Porciaia in the final section, where today the 19th-century arcades flanking the Florence Central Market are located.
AUTHOR
Florentine Painter
(14th century) Carocci assigns the fresco, of which there are in truth few original remains, to a painter close to Taddeo Gaddi. On the other hand, Lopes Pegna attributes it to a certain Michele di Maso di Michelozzo, a painter enrolled in the Arte dei Medici e Speziali in 1358, a date that may indeed be congruous with the execution of the painting.
The artist
(14th century) The general characteristics of the figures, moreover very repassed, but close in physiognomic features, composition and poses, to the style of Bernardo Daddi, do not allow for now a sure reference of the work, whose author will however have to be traced in the sphere of this Florentine master.
Tibdit
In the lower cartouche, a curious couplet invites the passerby to turn with a greeting to Madonna: "SALUTE OF THE CARMELO THE GREAT MOTHER AND PLEASURE TO THE DIVINE SON, AND TO THE FATHER."
GALLERY
Tabernacle
Via Sant'Antonino corner of Via Faenza
Madonna col Bambino
Via Sant'Antonino corner of Via Faenza
Detail: Frame
Via Sant'Antonino corner of Via Faenza
FURTHER INFORMATION
in collaboration with
with the support of
with free sponsorship
