Cristo fonte di vita

Un'invenzione 'spirituale' di Baccio Bandinelli

Abstract

This study presents a neglected painting that could be important for recognizing some aspects of the Florentine religious imagination in one of its most elusive periods. The panel depicts Christ as the Source of Life and is an authentic iconographic novelty based on various biblical passages, especially from the Gospel of John, the Apocalypse, and the First Epistle to the Corinthians. The aim of this article is to attribute its invention to Baccio Bandinelli, connecting it to the contemporary debate on the sola fide justification: the image visualizes the justice obtained by sinners who approach the Messiah with faith and are restored by his gift, a belief that was especially advanced by the Italian spirituali. It is suggested here that the painting was commissioned by Eleonora di Toledo in 1557, thus confirming her sympathies with this movement.