MANDORLA — Christ seated within the m. Miniature from an Exultet (12th century) — Rome, Biblioteca Casanatense, cod. 724 B 1, 13.
The iconographic type of Christ within a m. among the symbols of the Evangelists, which became established in 9th-century miniatures (the Gospel Book of Lothar in the Bibl. naz. of Paris), would become particularly widespread in the Romanesque and Gothic periods, not only in bindings and Gospel miniatures, but also in portal sculptures (the Portal of the Kings at Chartres, 12th century), on fabrics, in altar frontals (the silver altar frontals of Città di Castello and of the cathedral of Komburg in Germany, 12th century; carved or painted wooden altar frontals in the Museum of Barcelona), in frescoes (the oratory of Mocchirolo, now in Brera, 14th century), and in pax-plaques (the pax of the commune of Siena, 13th century). Connected with this type is that, far less frequent, of Christ among the symbols of Earth and Ocean, found in a miniature of a Sacramentary in the Bibl. naz. of Paris and on the ivory Gospel-book binding carved by the monk Tuotila of the abbey of S. Gallo, both from the 9th century. Other representations in which the m. is used are those of the Apocalypse (fresco in S. Pietro di Civate, 12th century); the Ascension, which is found not only in miniatures and ivories but also in portal reliefs (the northern portal of S. Stefano at Cahors, late 12th century); the Dormitia Virginia (mosaic by Cavallini in S. Maria in Trastevere); the Most Holy Trinity (a miniature in the Statuti de l'Ordre du St Esprit in the Bibl. naz. of Paris, 14th century); that of the Descent into Limbo, on the other hand, is rare, because this attribute is suited to representations of hieratic majesty and not to scenes of movement: the fresco in the lower church of S. Clemente (10th century) indeed provides an exceptional example of a m. inclined so as to follow the movement of the figure.
Christ in a m. is also represented very frequently, from the 12th to the 14th century, in the sculptures of church portals and façades (Ste Foy at Conques, S. Lazzaro at Autun, 12th century; the cathedral of Ferrara, 13th century; the cathedral of Orvieto, 14th century), in mosaics (the cathedral of Torcello), and in frescoes, among which that of the camposanto of Pisa deserves particular mention because Christ the Judge and the interceding Virgin are represented there in two distinct m.
The m. becomes a frequent attribute of the Virgin in the 14th century, not only in the scene of the Assumption, repeated in miniatures, paintings, and bas-reliefs (Notre-Dame of Paris; the tabernacle by Orcagna in Orsanmichele), but also in other representations: the beautiful door on the side of S. Maria del Fiore takes its name from the m. surrounding the Virgin as she gives the girdle to s. Thomas.
In the 15th century the m. is sometimes not delineated but indicated by garlands of angels (Coronation of the Virgin by Leonardo da Besozzo in S. Giovanni a Carbonara in Naples; Masolino’s Assumption in the Museum of Naples). At the end of the century it was still used by the painters of central Italy, particularly by Francia, Perugino, and generally by the entire Umbrian school; in the 16th century it is found in the disordered altarpiece of S. Nicola da Tolentino and in the standard of Città di Castello by the young Raphael.
In addition to the examples cited, all of which refer to representations of Christ, the Eternal, and the Virgin, rare representations of wholly exceptional iconography should be mentioned, in which the m. is an attribute of saints and prophets: the miniatures with the Evangelists in the Gospels of the cathedral of Bamberg, from the 10th century (the Library of Munich); the miniature of Abraham receiving the souls brought by the angels, in the Kalendarium necrologicum of Regensburg, from the 12th century (Archives of Munich); the 12th-century altar frontal in the Museum of Barcelona, in which s. Giulitta is represented within a m. with the little s. Quirico in her arms; the casket in the Museum of Limoges, which bears on its front, within three identical m., the Virgin, the Redeemer, and s. Peter.