Tabernacles of Florence
Via guelfa corner of via panicale
THE TABERNACLE
Sacra Famiglia con San Giovannino e San Rocco
The niche holds the image of the Sacra Famiglia with San Giovannino and San Rocco. Madonna, with a turban falling over her shoulders, holds her Son on her lap, while San Giovannino is depicted on the right. San Giuseppe is standing in the background behind the Virgin and a landscape is painted in the background; on the left the leafy mass of a tree forms a dark background in front of which the figure of San Rocco emerges.
Tabernacle
The sandstone aedicule presents a structure with a classical line with a centered niche, culminating in the broken triangular tympanum; the pediment is surmounted by the monstrance, with the symbol of the radiant sun. We know nothing about the tabernacle commissioning, but it was certainly made in the first half of the 17th century, after 1632, the date fixed on the lintel as the end of the plague. The tabernacle may have been commissioned by a family that escaped the contagious disease in gratitude for a grace received or to accompany a request for a pardon.
THE STREET
VIA GUELFA
The street name was probably chosen to celebrate the victory of the Florentine Guelphs at the Battle of Campaldino on June 11, 1289, the day of San Barnaba the Apostle, an event to which the nearby church of San Barnaba is also linked. The street also intersects, among many others, with Via Panicale, which owes its name to the dried panicum plant, a grass called precisely "panicale" in Florence.
AUTHOR
Giovanni da San Giovanni
(San Giovanni Valdarno, March 20, 1592 - Florence, December 9, 1636) Giovanni Mannozzi, known as Giovanni da San Giovanni, an excellent master, painter, and fresco painter, was one of the leading Florentine decorators of the early 17th century. He distinguished himself early on for fresco works with decorative subjects: private chapels, tabernacles and facades of wealthy Florentine patrician homes.
The artist
(San Giovanni Valdarno, March 20, 1592 - Florence, December 9, 1636) The painting of the Sacra Famiglia with San Giovannino and San Rocco is referable to Giovanni's manner, attributed to him, as are the tabernacle in Via Faenza and the one under the Volta Vecchia. These are a series of works of thanksgiving, commissioned by those who had escaped the plague.
Curiosity
The presence of the pilgrim saint from Montpellier, who lived between the 13th and 14th centuries, confirms the tabernacle's function as an invocation or ex-voto related to the plague epidemic. Indeed, San Rocco traveled around Europe devoting himself to the care of the plague victims and was invoked by the faithful against plagues.
OTHER INFORMATION
Info
AMICI DEI MUSEI FIORENTINI ODV - COMITATO PER IL DECORO E IL RESTAURO DEI TABERNACOLI - Card by Chiara Sestini and Doretta Ermini - Restoration by Paolo, Natalia and Letizia Gorini
PICTURES
Tabernacle
Via Guelfa corner of Via Panicale
Sacra Famiglia
Via Guelfa corner of Via Panicale
Detail: Madonna
Via Guelfa corner of Via Panicale
