We're on the cusp of the feast and octave of the Nativity, so it is an apropros time to share a bit of festal gold, this time coming in the form of an antependium dated to circa 1517-1526, a design which is attributed to two painters of the Florentine school, Andrea del Sarto (+1530) and Raffaellino del Garbo (+1527).
This particular antependium is primarily made from velvet -- one of the most popular materials of the Renaissance -- and features imagery of the Madonna and Child, the four evangelists St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke and St. John as well as the Desert Father St. Anthony the Great and another local saint, St. Margaret of Cortona.
Also prominent within the design are the arms of Cardinal Silvio Passerini (+1529), the Bishop of Cortona, now buried within his titular church in Rome, San Lorenzo in Lucina, likely pointing to this set as being destined for pontifical liturgical use by the cardinal.
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| Detail |
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| Detail of the central stemma of Cardinal Silvio Passerini |
The colours and materials are quite typical of the tastes of the High Renaissance and it is along the top band, called the superfrontal, that we see various images of the saints depicted. These are presumably based off the work of one or both of the aforementioned Florentine painters, here translated into embroidered medallions -- or, more properly speaking, tondi. These particular images are quite refined, being characterized by the elegance that so typically accompanies works done in the Renaissance mannerist style, a style that brings a classical serenity to them.
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| Madonna and Child |
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| St. Mark |
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| St. John |
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| St. Matthew |
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| St. Luke |
The Cardinal's stemma also makes a further appearance on either end of the superfrontal.
This particular antependium also has a corresponding set of vestments which we have featured here in an article we published earlier this year. (We also touched upon the frontal at that time, though not in as much detail as we have done here.)
Suffice it to say, this is the type of set that would have precisely been intended for pontifical liturgical use at the most solemn feasts such as Christmas or Easter. In that regard, this antependium can be consdiered as representative of some of the highest quality work that would have come out of during this period.
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