Tabernacle
1498 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This is a marble tabernacle made in the workshop of Matteo Civitali in Lucca, Italy, and dated 1498. The tabernacle is said by a 19th century source to have been bought in the area around Lucca by an English artist. Apparently he found the upper hands of the angels so inferior in treatment that he recut the marble into the round bosses that we see today. The coat of arms on the base has not been identified and the inscription between the two shields has been erased, except for the date 1498. The function of the tabernacle was to hold the eucharist, which would have been secured behind a decorative door in the central cavity.
Matteo Civitali was the only major Tuscan marble sculptor active outside Florence in the late 15th century. The form of the tabernacle is reproduced in one signed by Matteo's son, Niccolò Civitali (1482-after 1560), at Villa Collemandina, and dated 1533.
Matteo Civitali was the only major Tuscan marble sculptor active outside Florence in the late 15th century. The form of the tabernacle is reproduced in one signed by Matteo's son, Niccolò Civitali (1482-after 1560), at Villa Collemandina, and dated 1533.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 7 parts.
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| Materials and techniques | Carved marble |
| Brief description | Tabernacle, marble, workshop of Matteo Civitali, Italian, ca. 1498 |
| Physical description | Renaissance pilasters frame the tabernacle which is surmounted by a moulded lunette with protruding decorative features at the top and lower corners. Beneath the pilasters are shields (four serpents erect, in chief two stars of eight points, a griffin in base debruised with three narrow pallets). Between them runs a frieze or predella, from which the inscription has been excised save for the date 1498 at the base. From the key stone of the arch is suspended a tent-like canopy tied with ribbons, whose curtains are parted below by two angels looking inwards towards the arched tabernacle aperture. |
| Dimensions |
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| Object history | Purchased in Florence (Spence) in 1869. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | This is a marble tabernacle made in the workshop of Matteo Civitali in Lucca, Italy, and dated 1498. The tabernacle is said by a 19th century source to have been bought in the area around Lucca by an English artist. Apparently he found the upper hands of the angels so inferior in treatment that he recut the marble into the round bosses that we see today. The coat of arms on the base has not been identified and the inscription between the two shields has been erased, except for the date 1498. The function of the tabernacle was to hold the eucharist, which would have been secured behind a decorative door in the central cavity. Matteo Civitali was the only major Tuscan marble sculptor active outside Florence in the late 15th century. The form of the tabernacle is reproduced in one signed by Matteo's son, Niccolò Civitali (1482-after 1560), at Villa Collemandina, and dated 1533. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | 418 to:7-1869 |
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| Record created | August 29, 2008 |
| Record URL |
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