Madonna della Cintola

Abstract

The oldest church at the sanctuary of La Verna was begun in 1216, when the Virgin, together with Saints John the Evangelist and John the Baptist, is said to have appeared to Saint Francis in a vision and instructed him to build a church in her honor on this site. She also indicated the dimensions and proportions that the building, henceforth known as Santa Maria degli Angeli, should have. As a result, when the Florentine Domenico Bartoli (together with his brothers) was in 1486 granted patronage rights over this church, he was permitted to renovate and decorate the church, but not to change the shape or size of the building. Bartoli's major contribution was a set of three glazed terracotta altarpieces, all of which bear his arms and those of his wife, Maddalena Rucellai. This, the high altarpiece, can be dated to c. 1486-88 and is the work of Andrea della Robbia. The ostensible subject is the Virgin's donation of her girdle to Saint Thomas, a theme particularly dear to Tuscans since the relic of the Virgin's girdle is held and venerated in the city of Prato. The inclusion of saints Gregory the Great, Francis, and Bonaventure, however, emphasizes the visionary quality of the imagery, as these men, who lived centuries after the apostle Thomas, appear to witness this sacred event. Saint Bonaventure, at right, points towards the Virgin in her mandorla, perhaps inviting the viewer to recall the moment she later appeared to Saint Francis and ordered the building of this very church. Similar altarpieces by the Della Robbia workshp survive in Santa Fiora, Foiano, Frankfurt, and London. Photograph(s) licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.