Central Italian "Tabernacula"
This paper aims to provide an in-depth survey of grand-scale medieval Italian tabernacles and other types of closing altarpieces with all of their wings - or substantial parts thereof - still preserved (1200-1435). Most such altarpieces, enclosing a statue of the Virgin Mary or a Saint, come from th...
| Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | article |
| Publication Date: | 2020 |
| Country: | España |
| Institution: | Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona |
| Repository: | Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB |
| Language: | English |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:ddd.uab.cat:224328 |
| Online Access: | https://ddd.uab.cat/record/224328 https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.5565/rev/medievalia.515 |
| Access Level: | Open access |
| Keyword: | History of medieval art Tabernacle-altarpieces Polygonal tabernacle-altarpieces Cupboard-altarpieces Medieval Italy Central Apennine Abruzzo Umbria Sculpture Painting Historia del arte Escultura Liturgia Pintura Retablo-tabernáculo Retablo-tabernáculo poligonal Retablo en forma de armario Italia medieval Apeninos centrales Abruzos Umbría |
| Summary: | This paper aims to provide an in-depth survey of grand-scale medieval Italian tabernacles and other types of closing altarpieces with all of their wings - or substantial parts thereof - still preserved (1200-1435). Most such altarpieces, enclosing a statue of the Virgin Mary or a Saint, come from the culturally homogeneous and generally conservative regions of the Central Apennines, in particular from Abruzzo. Structure, provenance, original location, function, patronage, iconography are only a few of the many questions raised by the surviving examples here discussed within a broader European frame.Notwithstanding the great variety and composite character of medieval altar furnishings, three major types of medieval Italian closing retables will be here described - according to Claude Lapaire's formal classification (1969 and 1972): the tabernacle-altarpiece in the strict sense of the word, i.e. an open ciborium with the pedestal, rear wall, and canopy, equipped with carved or painted bi-fold wings; the polygonal tabernacle-altarpiece ("le retable à tabernacle polygonal"); and the cupboard-altarpiece ("le retable en forme d'armoire"). In Central Apennine regions all of these types coexisted throughout the fourteenth century at least, resisting the spread of Tuscan polyptychs. |
|---|