Tabernacle
Loading...
Files
Authors
Pompeo Targone; Curzio Vanni
Date
Type
Image
Language
Keyword
Tempietto , Baptism , Tabernacle , Eucharist , Consecrated Host
Alternative Title
Abstract
On the Altar of the Blessed Sacrament in the left transept of San Giovanni in Laterano in Rome stands a richly decorated multi-tiered polychrome tabernacle, adorned with gilded bronze, gemstones, and precious-coloured stones. Designed in the form of an octagonal domed temple, the tabernacle is embellished with sculpted saints and a small crucifix, while a figure of the resurrected Christ crowns the structure.
The tabernacle is attributed to the architect, military engineer, and goldsmith Pompeo Targone (1575–1633), who worked under Popes Clement VIII and Paul V. Targone, also responsible for the altar of the Pauline Chapel in Santa Maria Maggiore, is recognized in Giovanni Baglione’s Lives of Sculptors and Architects, which notes that Pope Clement VIII commissioned the tabernacle for the Jubilee of 1600. Targone collaborated with the goldsmith Curzio Vanni to bring the project to completion. Transported to the basilica in December 1599, the tabernacle brought Targone significant fame.
The tabernacle in a church is a sacred container, typically placed on or near the altar, that houses the consecrated Eucharist (the wine and wafer that become the blood and body of Christ during the mass according to believers). According to believers, Christ is physically present in the Eucharist, and the tabernacle’s prominent placement emphasizes and celebrates this presence.
Above the tabernacle is a framed silver-gilt relief of The Last Supper held by a pair of gilded angels.
Photograph(s) licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence.
Description
San Giovanni in Laterano, Rome
Citation
Emmanuel Lamouche, “TARGONE, Pompeo,” Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana fondata da Giovanni Treccani 95 (2019); Giovanni Baglione, Le vite de' pittori scultori et architettii: Dal pontificato di Gregorio XIII. del 1572. In fino a'tempi di Papa Urbano Ottavo nel 1642 (nella stamperia d'Andrea Fei, 1642), 330.