CANTARO. — From the Greek κάνθαρος, a kind of drinking cup with a wide opening; it is also used to designate the basin from which water flows in Roman houses or before temples. It was placed in the atria of Christian basilicas, protected by a tegurium supported by columns, and served for the ablutions of the faithful. S. Paolino di Nola in the year 397 describes the c. arranged in the atrium of the Vatican basilica (CSEL, XXIX, pp. 94-95). In his letter to his friend Severus on the arrangement of basilicas, he repeats that Cantharus intrantumque manus laxat, amne ministro (CSEL, XXX, p. 290). A c. also stood in the atrium of the basilica of S. Paolo, and the inscription placed there by s. Leone Magno (440-61) invited the faithful to wash their hands: abluè fonte manus (G. B. De Rossi, Inscriptiones christianae, II, 1, Roma 1888, pp. 80-81). An inscription on the c. of Blera admonishes: Christiane lava manus et ora.
Pope Simmaco (498-514) added ornaments to the c. already existing before the Vatican basilica and placed another one foris in campo.
At Tebessa in Africa, too, the remains of a c. were discovered in the atrium of the Byzantine basilica, and another was found in Tunisia at Zaghouan. It is known that a c. was also located in the atrium of the rebuilt basilica of S. Sofia in the time of Giustiniano. Another can be recognized in the mosaic of S. Vitale at Ravenna, where the empress Teodora is represented.
In the Middle Ages, the c. before the Vatican basilica was replaced by the bronze pinea, of which Pietro Mallio and Filippo van Winghe have left us a description. Two c. still remain in Rome: one in the atrium of the basilica of S. Cecilia, the other in the cloister of the SS. Quattro Coronati (v. ABLUZIONE).
On many Christian tombstones the c. is represented as the vessel of life, from which the doves (the souls) come to drink. The term c. later came to designate a kind of support for candles; hence in the Lib. pont. the terms canthara, cereostata, fara canthara, etc., frequently appear (e.g. Lib. pont., I, 173).