The circle as a universal symbol represents notions of totality, wholeness, original perfection, the infinite, eternity, timelessness, all cyclic movement, God. As a seamless element of design, Munro habitually employs circles within his paintings, and the tondo was just taking it a natural step further.
A decade ago Munro approached South Africa's best canvas manufacturer, Winsen's Canvases, for round canvases. Says Winsen's engineer and owner Gavin: "It felt pioneering but little did we know how popular this shape would be". But as we all know: there is no new thing under the sun. The tondo became popular in Italy during the 15th century already, when round reliefs of subjects had been used in wall tombs.
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