Description
Comprising wall panels incorporating benches, two refectory tables and a credenza
This rare refectory, or dining room, is a type that was used in monasteries and academic institutions in Renaissance Italy. Monks ate at the long benches and important officials sat at raised benches at the end of the hall.
The inscriptions carved into the wainscoting of this panelled room are comprised of a series of independent sentences, which, possibly, are quotations from the monastic rule of Saint Augustine. Augustine was a Latin philosopher and theologian from Roman Africa and was generally considered as one of the greatest Christian thinkers of all time. As the original order of these sentences or quotations cannot be determined with certainty, the following is a listing of them :
Locus penarii
Omnibus aequa lance
Oculi omnium in te sperant et tu da illis cibum
Edent paupes et saturabantur et laudabunt Dominum
Fratres fauces vestre non solum sumant cibum sed et aures esuriant
Dei verbum
Ex regula S. P. Augustini
MDLXVII
Opificium Thomae Branchie de Mondaino
Translation in English :
Place of penance
Punishment equal for all
The eyes of all turn in hope towards you and you give them food
The poor will eat and will be replenished and will praise the Lord
Brethren not only your mouths should receive food but also your ears should be filled with the word of the Lord
From the rule of the Holy Father Augustine
1567
The work of Thomae Branchie de Mondaino
No record of the name of the woodcarver Thomae Branchie de Mondaino has been found thus far. His place of origin may be either Mondaino in the province of Emilia Romagna or Mondaino in the Marches. Information from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York indicates that the room comes from a refectory of an Augustine convent in the province of Recanati in the Marches.