Madonna della Stella
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Keyword
Madonna , St. Cosmas , St. Damian , God the Father , tomb
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Abstract
The Madonna della Stella is at the centre of an elaborately carved ornate architectural frame (akin to a triumphal arch) in the Capella dei Santi Medici, named for the physician saints that flank the Madonna on either side, in the Chiesa Matrice of Turi. On the left is Saint Cosmas, dressed in green, while his twin brother Saint Damian is dressed in red on the right. Above, a sculpture of God the Father holds an orb over the Madonna's head. The Madonna della Stella is called so because of the gold stars that decorate her mantle. The mantle is pulled across her body, providing a sort of frame for the Baby Jesus. The work was made by an unknown follower of Stefano da Putignano. When the church was redecorated in the eighteenth century, this chapel was the only one to be preserved more or less in its Renaissance form (the grey stone arches set against white walls and luminous dome recalling distantly the chapels of Brunelleschi). This chapel was surely preserved more or less intact, because it was the funereal chapel of the Moles (from Spain), lords of Turi from 1550 to 1752. The stylistic points of reference, however, are not Spanish but local (sculptures in the style of Stefano da Putignano), and, for the architecture, Florentine. Photograph(s) licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Description
Chiesa Matrice, Turi
Citation
Giovanni Lerede, ""Capella dei Santi Medici,"" https://www.comune.turi.ba.it/turismo-e-cultura/item/80-cappella-dei-santi-medici (accessed Aug. 12, 2021).