Date
1460-1467
Object Type
Relief
Subject
Madonna giving the cintola to Saint Thomas and two angels
Holding institution
Accademia di Carrara
About The Work
The sculpture is part of the dismembered marble altarpiece of the Collegiata di Sant’Andrea in Carrara. The work was executed by the Florentine sculptor Andrea di Francesco Guardi in the 1460s and was commissioned by Spinetta di Campofregoso, lord of Carrara from 1448 to 1467. This fragment consists of a bas-relief composed of three panels depicting the Madonna of the Girdle with Saint Thomas and praying angels. The reliefs are arranged within a fragmentary classicising marble frame articulated by pilasters and surmounted by an architrave. The central panel shows the Virgin within a ribbon-shaped mandorla supported by four cherubim. The panel on the right depicts Saint Thomas about to receive the Holy Girdle, while on the left is a praying angel. The altarpiece was dismantled in the seventeenth century to meet liturgical requirements following the Council of Trent. The remaining parts are set into the walls of the Collegiata and include the high-relief figures of the central section (Madonna and Child, Saint Peter, Saint John the Baptist, Saint Andrew, and Saint Paul), the predella with sacred scenes and portraits of the patrons, and a relief of the Coronation of the Virgin. The aedicule entered the collections of the Accademia di Belle Arti di Carrara on 12 September 1861 as a donation from Sarteschi brothers. In 1939, Paolo Fontana, who identified the Academy’s reliefs as belonging to the altarpiece, proposed an initial reconstruction. The most enduring hypothesis was advanced by Margherita Moriondo in 1948, correcting the placement of several bas-reliefs; her proposal was later adopted by Franco Buselli (1972). In 2024, Gerardo de Simone identified the final components of the altarpiece, now preserved in the Staatliche Museen (Bode Museum), Berlin, and proposed a complete reconstruction, with the exception of the frames.
Title
Madonna che consegna la cintola a San Tommaso e due angeli
Creator
Guardi Andrea di Francesco
Subject
Madonna giving the cintola to Saint Thomas and two angels
Object Type
Relief
Original Function
Collection, Fratelli Sarteschi donation
Date
1460-1467
Inscriptions
On the side, on plate: Incision "DONO DEI FRATELLI SARTESCHI"
Technique / Support
Marble
Dimensions
cm 86 x 210
Holding institution
Accademia di Carrara
Bibliography
MORIDONI, G., "Ricostruzione di due opere di Andrea Guardi", in "Belle Arti", I, 1946-48, pp. 325-337; FONTANA, P., "Della pala marmorea del Duomo di Carrara, opera di Andrea di Francesco Guardi",
in "Mitteilungen des Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz", 1, 1937, pp. 213-215; BUSELLI, F., S. Andrea apostolo: duomo a Carrara, Genova, 1972, pp. XX; RAPETTI, C., Storie di marmo. Sculture del Rinascimento fra Liguria e Toscana, Milano, 1998, pp. 19-25 e 85-94; DE SIMONE, G., "Sculture del Medioevo e del Rinascimento: Lapo di Giroldo, Andrea Guardi,
Francesco Mosca", in "L’Accademia di Belle Arti di Carrara", a cura di M. CIAMPOLINI, Milano (In corso di pubblicazione).
in "Mitteilungen des Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz", 1, 1937, pp. 213-215; BUSELLI, F., S. Andrea apostolo: duomo a Carrara, Genova, 1972, pp. XX; RAPETTI, C., Storie di marmo. Sculture del Rinascimento fra Liguria e Toscana, Milano, 1998, pp. 19-25 e 85-94; DE SIMONE, G., "Sculture del Medioevo e del Rinascimento: Lapo di Giroldo, Andrea Guardi,
Francesco Mosca", in "L’Accademia di Belle Arti di Carrara", a cura di M. CIAMPOLINI, Milano (In corso di pubblicazione).
Conservation status
Fair
Unique identifier
0900390365