tabernacolo s.agostino-maffia

Tabernacles of Florence

Via sant'Agostino corner of via Maffia

THE TABERNACLE THE STREET AUTHOR PICTURES

THE TABERNACLE

Madonna col Bambino

The fresco depicts the Madonna in glory holding a blond and viscous baby Jesus on her knees, Sant'Agostino, and the archangel Raffaele (or Raffaello as the Florentines commonly called him) accompanying the young Tobiolo on his journey to collect a debt, at the behest of his father. Both figures are depicted with their respective attributes: the young man with the fish held in his hand and the archangel with the golden cruet in his right hand, ready to receive the entrails of the fish with which to heal Tobiolo's father from blindness.

Tabernacle

The tabernacle is located on the corner wall that enclosed the former Augustinian convent complex attached to the church of Santo Spirito in Florence, which was suppressed by the French in 1808. Inside a simple bigia stone frame is preserved the fresco, which can be dated between the late 17th and early 18th century as a result of stylistic analysis.

THE STREET

VIA SANT'AGOSTINO

Via Sant'Agostino and Via Maffia were respectively home to the Compagnia di Sant'Agostino de' Bianchi, known as "del Croce," suppressed in 1773, and the Compagnia dell'Arcangelo Raffaello, known as "del Raffa," suppressed in 1784, the most likely patrons of the work.

AUTHOR

Niccolò Nannetti

(Florence 1674 - 1749) To the Florentine Niccolò Nannetti, born in 1674, a pupil first of the painter Alessandro Loni and then of Alessandro Gherardini, we can stylistically trace the devotional image depicted in this tabernacle. The painter's artistic career seems to have begun in the great cloister of Santo Spirito, where he executed as many as four lunettes, made prior to 1705, when he was matriculated at the Accademia del disegno in Florence.

The artist

(Florence 1674 - 1749)His artistic culture in those years was updated on the contemporary outcomes proposed by the Florentines Giovanni Camillo Sacrestani and Matteo Bonechi; later he often collaborated with Giovanni Domenico Ferretti especially in the context of Pistoia, but there is no lack of his work in Florence where he is documented, among other things, in 1705 in the decorations of Palazzo Capponi, and later around 1727 at the SS. Annunziata for which he executed a canvas and in the convent a fresco. The making of sharp outlines is a recurring feature of Nannetti's painting, while the windswept hair and use of colors show experiences learned alongside other great artists.

Curiosity

The presence of the two biblical characters side by side with Sant'Agostino is recurrent in the iconography of the Bishop of Hippo and recalls a passage from the Confessions. The book, visible in the saint's hands, tells how, along the path that leads to knowledge, man needs God's illuminating guidance. This is represented by the archangel Raphael who protects and illuminates young Tobiolo's path to the goal.

OTHER INFORMATION

Info

AMICI DEI MUSEI FIORENTINI ODV - COMITATO PER IL DECORO E IL RESTAURO DEI TABERNACOLI - File by Daniele Rapino Official of the Polo Museale Fiorentino, responsible for the protection of the S. Spirito district. - Direction of works: Daniele Rapino - Restoration of mural painting: Bartolomeo Ciccone - Restoration of stone aedicule: Francesca Piccolino Boniforti, Cristina Napolitano - Restoration by Friends of Florence (2014)