Ugo Guidi, Saint Clair blesses breads (1957)

stone, h. 40x75x7 cm
Forte dei Marmi, Museo Ugo Guidi

The new interpretation of Romanesque art appear more clear in this work, Saint Claire blesses breads: besides the solid masses, here it is the rhytmic scansion inspired to the works by Wiligelmo, Anselmo da Campione, Gruamonte and others artists from Tuscany and Northern Italy. The somatic signs reminds instead some creations of Carolingian and Ottonian art.
The episode described by Guidi in this sculpture is taken from the chapter XXXIII of the Fioretti di San Francesco, a work by a medieval anonymous, written in ancient Italian. It seems that Santa Chiara (1194-1253) had so much holiness ("tanta santità") that she caused the admiration of pope Gregory IX, who came to her convent and asks her to bless the bread making over it the Sign of the Cross. Saint Claire consented after some hesitations, and the Sign of the Cross, for miracle, appeared dig on the breads. Guidi represents the moment in which the nuns bring the breads to Saint Claire, who is blessing them with a hand on her breast and looking at the sky, under the severe glance of Gregory IX.

A project by
Federico Giannini

Museo Ugo Guidi
(Forte dei Marmi)

Associazione Amici
del Museo Ugo Guidi
Onlus


Humanities
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University of Pisa