Florence:
Porta della Mandorla
Bas-relief of the Assumption by Nanni di Banco
The exquisitely beautiful bas-relief (1414-21), which gives the Porta della Mandorla its name, is the work of the Florentine sculptor Giovanni di Antonio di Banco (c.1384 - 1421), better known as Nanni di Banco.
The door is located on the north side of the Duomo, in Florence, and the almond-shaped motif, in the centre of the relief, depicts the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. (Mandorla is the Italian word for almond.)
The Madonna hands down her girdle to St Thomas (the apostle who doubted Christ's resurrection), as proof of her Assumption into Heaven. The actual girdle, which was first made of silk and then of copper, has long since disappeared. According to extra-biblical tradition, Thomas arrived too late to see the Assumption. The Virgin, therefore, offered her girdle to the incredulous apostle as tangible proof of her departure.
This scene is common in Tuscan art, because what is believed to be the actual relic of the Holy Girdle, known as the Sacra Cintola, is kept in Prato Cathedral.
The door is located on the north side of the Duomo, in Florence, and the almond-shaped motif, in the centre of the relief, depicts the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. (Mandorla is the Italian word for almond.)
The Madonna hands down her girdle to St Thomas (the apostle who doubted Christ's resurrection), as proof of her Assumption into Heaven. The actual girdle, which was first made of silk and then of copper, has long since disappeared. According to extra-biblical tradition, Thomas arrived too late to see the Assumption. The Virgin, therefore, offered her girdle to the incredulous apostle as tangible proof of her departure.
This scene is common in Tuscan art, because what is believed to be the actual relic of the Holy Girdle, known as the Sacra Cintola, is kept in Prato Cathedral.
A Bear and an Oak Tree
In addition to St Thomas, there is, in the lower-right corner, a bear and an oak tree, whose presence has long perplexed scholars. One explanation is that in the mediaeval belief system bear cubs were thought to be born shapeless; they were formed by the licking of their mother. (They were literally licked into shape.) This act became a symbol of Christianity, which, it was held, reforms and regenerates non-Christians.