TONDO

What is it?

a Renaissance term for a circular work of art, either a painting or a sculpture. The word derives from the Italian rotondo, meaning "round."

Function and purpose

-Tondo paintings are used to decorate open wall spaces in the interiors of palaces, churches, courthouses, etc (often using terra-cotta on plaster...depict religious/political scenes), or they stand alone
-Other tondos depict a scene or concept from the artist's culture on a circular ceramic dish
-3D tondos range from glazed ceramics to relief sculptures on stone/metal disks
-tondos have also been a common architectural design element (under rounded arch or on pediments) since the renaissance
-subjects include royal families, historical narratives (war), and religious figures (subject usually relates to the building/structure the tondo decorates)

Relevancy

Untitled Slide

• Used since Ancient Greek artists first developed it (mostly paintings on ceramics)
• Popular in Italy, France, and England during the 15th/16th centuries (Renaissance)
• Materials range from tempera on wood to buon fresco to bronze carvings
• BOtticelli and Raphael painted madonnas in tondos
• Michelangelo crafted both painting/sculpture tondos (ex. Doni tondo)

BASK IN ITS GLORY

THIS ONE'S GREEK :D

AND HERE'S ANOTHER TONDO

YEP YOU GUESSED IT, ANOTHER TONDO

I

IS THIS TONDO THE BEST

THANK YOU