Pl. tondi. [It. tondo ‘a round, circle, compass; also a round trencher, plate, or little dish’ (Florio); in mod.It. a studio term used in relation to paintings, Della Robbia ware, and other fine art work; shortened from rotondo round.] An easel painting of circular form; also a carving in relief within a circular space.
1890. Blackw. Mag., Jan., 140. A medal representing the great tondo of Botticelli.
1892. Symonds, Michel Angelo (1899), I. III. V. 111. Michel Angelo found time to carve the two tondi, Madonnas in relief enclosed in circular spaces which we still possess.
1901. Athenæum, 9 Nov., 635. A catalogue … of the Della Robbia monuments and … tabernacles, tondos, reliefs, medallions, and the like.
1909. Times, Lit. Suppl., 7 Oct., 361/2. One of the most beautiful of Michelangelo’s works, the tondo in the Bargello.
