DOI issue:
Nr. 3
DOI article:Skubiszewska, Maria: Franciabigio's two tondi with Annunciation
DOI Page / Citation link: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18860#0109
deeply rooted in the fundamental Christian concepts related to Redemption, concepts which
found their canonical formulation in Saint Paul's Second Letter to Timothy : "henceforth there
is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me
at that day : and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing" (4 : 8).
The Annunciation plays a very significant role in the iconogiaphic programme of the altarpiece.
The placing of this scene over the representation of the saint can be compared to an identical
arrangement in the above mentioned relief of San Donato of 1310. The iconography of the
latter work might be compared to contemporary Paduan and Venetian tombs where the Annun-
ciation (usually divided into two separate parts) and the Coronation of the Virgin were depicted
over the figure of the deceased. Here a common Christian belief found its clear expiession.
As Mary was rewarded with the heavenly crown for a submissive acceptance of her role in God's
plan of Salvation, so any Christian could hope to be similarly recompensed for his own obedience.
Such parallelism was particularly appropriate in an altarpiece dedicated to a saint, someone,
whose salvation had been already publicly declared by the Church.
A. Parronchi in the above mentioned paper published the small Renaissance altarpiece (178 cm
width) which was recently discovered in one of the monastery rooms at Santo Spirito (fig. 10)29.
This wooden architectural retable dated by the Italian scholar to the beginning of the XVIth
century comprises five panels, all now in a very poor state of preservation. The central niche is
occupied by "a wooden eigtheenth-century crucifix set against a coarsely painted panel"30.
29. Parronchi, op. cit., p. 26—29.
30. Since I did not see this work I quote verbatim the description of Parronchi, op.cit.., p. 26.
10. Altarpiece, Santo Spirito, Florence (after Parronchi)
95
found their canonical formulation in Saint Paul's Second Letter to Timothy : "henceforth there
is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me
at that day : and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing" (4 : 8).
The Annunciation plays a very significant role in the iconogiaphic programme of the altarpiece.
The placing of this scene over the representation of the saint can be compared to an identical
arrangement in the above mentioned relief of San Donato of 1310. The iconography of the
latter work might be compared to contemporary Paduan and Venetian tombs where the Annun-
ciation (usually divided into two separate parts) and the Coronation of the Virgin were depicted
over the figure of the deceased. Here a common Christian belief found its clear expiession.
As Mary was rewarded with the heavenly crown for a submissive acceptance of her role in God's
plan of Salvation, so any Christian could hope to be similarly recompensed for his own obedience.
Such parallelism was particularly appropriate in an altarpiece dedicated to a saint, someone,
whose salvation had been already publicly declared by the Church.
A. Parronchi in the above mentioned paper published the small Renaissance altarpiece (178 cm
width) which was recently discovered in one of the monastery rooms at Santo Spirito (fig. 10)29.
This wooden architectural retable dated by the Italian scholar to the beginning of the XVIth
century comprises five panels, all now in a very poor state of preservation. The central niche is
occupied by "a wooden eigtheenth-century crucifix set against a coarsely painted panel"30.
29. Parronchi, op. cit., p. 26—29.
30. Since I did not see this work I quote verbatim the description of Parronchi, op.cit.., p. 26.
10. Altarpiece, Santo Spirito, Florence (after Parronchi)
95