Tabernacle

This tabernacle frame originally held a latched door at its center, which, when opened, would have revealed an image of Mary, now missing. The inscription along the bottom of the frame, AVE MARIA GRASIA PLENA (Hail Mary Full of Grace), is an invocation to the viewer to pray to Mary. Seraphim (angels with triple sets of wings) are placed around the frame in attitudes of reverence towards the Virgin, understood to be at the center. Two seraphim also flank Jesus at the top of the frame. Mary and Christ are connected through the red lettering of their respective monograms at each top corner. The angels’ red gowns reference the blood of Christ’s painted red stigmata, and guide the viewer’s reflection on devotion and suffering while communing with Mary’s image. The use of gilding emphasizes the fine detailing of the angels’ wing feathers, further accentuating the heavenly setting of the devotional experience.

Please see Bernardino Fungai’s Madonna in a Mandorla Surrounded by Angels (Accession no.1994.1) for a similar example of the Madonna functioning in an intercessory role to help those praying to her.