Tabernacle of the Grain Market (Tabernacolo dell'Arte dei Medici e Speziali)
Orcagna's tabernacle — 1352-1359, Orsanmichele Florence
Andrea Orcagna, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Orcagna's marble tabernacle inside Orsanmichele is one of the supreme works of Italian Gothic art — a monumental free-standing shrine in marble and mosaic that houses Bernardo Daddi's miraculous painting of the Madonna (1347). The tabernacle was commissioned by the Arte dei Medici e Speziali (Guild of Physicians and Spice Merchants) in 1352, three years after the Black Death of 1348-1349, and was completed by 1359.
It is a tour de force of Gothic marble carving: the niches, pinnacles, columns, and reliefs are carved in a style that combines Late Gothic architectural decoration with a sculptural relief program of the Life of the Virgin and scenes from the Book of Revelation. The enclosed space is covered with glass mosaic.
Andrea Orcagna (active 1343-1368) was the dominant artist of Florence in the generation immediately after Giotto's death (1337) — painter, sculptor, and architect. His tabernacle at Orsanmichele is the only surviving large-scale sculpted work certainly attributable to him. It reflects the intensified religious devotion that followed the Black Death: the commission was partly an act of collective thanksgiving and partly a response to the miraculous painting of the Madonna that was displayed within it.
The tabernacle is best approached by walking slowly around its four sides to study the relief program. The narrative scenes from the Life of the Virgin are in the Gothic narrative style — compressed, expressive, with gold mosaic backgrounds.
The relief of the Death (Dormition), Assumption, and Coronation of the Virgin on the back panel is the most important single sculptural composition. The interior enclosure of the Madonna painting creates a shrine within a shrine — the visitor approaches the sacred image through the carved architectural surround.
When standing before this work, look carefully: Orcagna's tabernacle — 1352-1359, Orsanmichele Florence. Give it time — what seems decorative often carries the central meaning.
When standing before this work, look carefully: Dormition and Assumption relief — back panel. Give it time — what seems decorative often carries the central meaning.
When standing before this work, look carefully: Glass mosaic interior — Gothic decorative program. Give it time — what seems decorative often carries the central meaning.
When standing before this work, look carefully: Tabernacle in situ — shrine within the church. Give it time — what seems decorative often carries the central meaning.
Orsanmichele, Via dell'Arte della Lana, Florence. Open daily (church accessible during opening hours). The tabernacle fills the interior of the former grain market-turned-church.