A mandorla is an almond shaped frame that completely encloses a figure — usually Christ, sometimes the Virgin — as a sign of divine radiance. The word is Italian for almond. In building terms it matters above all as a fixed element of Romanesque and Gothic portal sculpture.
Shape and origin
The mandorla is formed where two circular segments overlap; geometrically it is the figure known in mathematics as the vesica piscis. Two circles of equal radius, each passing through the other’s centre, intersect in a pointed oval. Medieval masons could therefore set the shape out with nothing but a pair of compasses or a length of cord — which is why the same proportion turns up in setting out systems and in the geometry of pointed arches.
Where a halo surrounds only the head, a mandorla encloses the whole figure. That reserves it for the highest subjects: Christ in Majesty, the Transfiguration and the Ascension, and for the Virgin the Assumption.
Where you meet it
- The tympanum over a church portal — the principal location. In Romanesque portals the mandorla sits at the centre of the arch head, surrounded by the four evangelist symbols or the elders
- Facade sculpture and relief work on the west front
- Leaded glazing in the rose window or the chancel windows
- Wall and vault painting in the chancel
- Tomb monuments and fonts in stone
For restoration and identification
A mandorla is almost always built up from several blocks of stone and is locked into the tympanum between the arch and the lintel. The same rules apply as to other figured stonework: replace as little as possible, match the stone type and the tooling, and change corroding iron cramps for stainless steel before they split the stone apart.
Related terms
- Tympanum
- Iconography
- Arch head
- Relief
- Romanesque
- Natural stone
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