Tondo
A tondo ( that or the tondo; plural: tondi or tondos ) or round picture is a circular work of art. A tondo can be designed as a painting or a relief . The word is derived from the Italian rotondo for "round" ( Latin rotundus ) and an abbreviated form.
Tondi were already popular in ancient Greece and ancient Rome . The tondo was also a frequently used design element in architecture , from antiquity to the era of historicism . Tondi were often added to the gable ends of buildings below the roof structure as a decorative element in the facade or in the area of the risalits .
Tondi were also widespread in the interior decoration of buildings. To decorate auditoriums , foyers , entrance halls and staircases, they were often integrated in specially designed niches to structure the wall surfaces. Tondi can also be found on steles and tombs to this day.
The circular format was intended to underline the dignity and detachment of what is depicted, but also enable the possible concentration on a subject and enhance its effect.
literature
- Roberta JM Olson: The Florentine Tondo , Oxford University Press, New York 2000.
- Roberta JM Olson: The Perfection of the Circle: Florentine Tondi and Neoplatonism , in: Girolami Cheney, Liana / Hendrix, John: Neoplatonism and the Arts , Lewiston [u. a.]: Mellen 2002, pp. 81-108.
- Moritz Hauptmann: The tondo: origin, meaning and history of the Italian round picture in relief and painting . Frankfurt a. M. 1936.
- William Zimmer: The Tondo , in: Art Journal 50, 1 (1991), pp. 60-63.
