COENOBIUM. – International journal of free studies, founded in 1907 in Lugano but printed in Italy, under the direction of G. Renzi.
It gathered around itself the most fashionable modernists, writers of no religion or of a false religion, and, claiming the most absolute and complete freedom of contradiction, proclaimed that it loved and understood indiscriminately the most opposed hypotheses, tendencies, and solutions: faith and falsehood, a finalist conception of the world and of a universe devoid of any moral goal. It was condemned by the Index on 26 July 1907; but it continued its publications until 1919.
COPANETTO. - This term, along with others expressing similar concepts such as cassettina (small casket), teca (reliquary), or the Latin capsella (v. CAPSA), refers to small chests and coffers of various shapes but modest dimensions, intended for the safekeeping of precious objects.
The ivory teca in the Museo Cristiano of Brescia (v. AVORIO), which, due to the character of its reliefs, can be dated to the 4th century and considered to originate from the territories of the Hellenistic East, is the most distinguished example of such works in the early Christian era. Other expressions of classical taste and style are reflected in the silver capsella, possibly from the time of St. Ambrose, preserved in Milan in the church of SS. Nazario e Celso, and the coffer of a Proiecta, bride of a Secundus, also in silver and likewise dated to the 4th century, discovered in Rome during excavations on the Esquiline but now in the British Museum in London. Also noteworthy is a c. in the Civic Museum of Pola, with ivory reliefs depicting scenes from the Passion. Silver c. found in the treasury of the Sancta Sanctorum at the Lateran, and others from Brivio and Carthage, now preserved in Paris at the Louvre and in Rome at the Vatican’s Museo Sacro, respectively, should instead be dated to the 6th century, likely the work of Eastern goldsmiths. On the other hand, a silver capsella and reliquary from the cathedral of Grado are the work of Western masters. Extremely rare and fragmentary are the remains of c. in a classical style dating from between the 7th and the end of the 8th century, a period during which, however, the goldsmithing of barbarian taste created a truly outstanding masterpiece in the reliquary of the cathedral of Monza: a gold c. worked with complex relief ornaments and entirely encrusted with gems and colored stones.
Of a wholly particular character, so much so that it may be considered a separate chapter in the evolution of Byzantine ivory carving, is a group of c. produced between the 9th and 12th centuries, covered with ivory reliefs and often referred to as "secular caskets." These are generally rectangular in shape, with a flat lid and faces adorned with reliefs depicting almost always secular scenes, executed in a style directly linked to that of ancient Hellenistic art, from which they often borrow motifs. Examples are preserved in the cathedral of Capodistria, in the treasury of the cathedral of Ivrea, in the Museo Nazionale del Bargello in Florence, and elsewhere. In Rome, at the basilica of S. Paolo, there is one of these caskets that also shows evident Northern influences; it was certainly executed in the second half of the 11th century. Some ivory c. reflecting, to varying degrees, the forms typical of the aforementioned caskets but interpreted with stylistic accents not unlike those of the creators of the paliotto of the cathedral of Salerno—a masterpiece of Southern Italian craftsmanship from the 12th century—should also be attributed to Southern Italian artists. Examples are found in Palermo, in the treasury of the Cappella Palatina, where there are also some c. from the same period but imitating Muslim style and technique, with figures and arabesques finely incised and highlighted with brown color and gilding. Others are found in Florence, in the Museo del Bargello, and in Italian and foreign collections. The c. of the cathedral of Civita di Bagnorea (Bagnoregio), whose carved friezes may recall those of some Muslim woodworks, and the casket covered with silver plates in the museum of the cathedral of Anagni, can also be associated with this group.
C. adorned with enamels or decorated with medallions or plaques in enamel, the work of French artists—particularly from Limoges and the Rhineland—as well as Byzantine artists, spread throughout Italy during the 12th and 13th centuries. Churches, public and private collections are rich in such pieces, contributing to the renewed knowledge and diffusion of this very ancient technique, which at that time also found imitators among Italian artisans. During the flourishing of the Gothic taste, c., like all other goldsmithing objects, reflected the slender and elegant forms of the new style. Wooden c. were then produced, carved and painted or covered with embossed precious metals or plaques of ivory or bone. Bone carvings were especially crafted by family (v.), creators of an infinite number of c.
During the Renaissance, in the 15th and early 16th centuries, c., taking on the forms of cassoni, became precious more for the refinement of their art than for the richness of their materials. They were produced not only covered in ivory and metals but also painted, carved, or decorated with reliefs executed in a rice-flour-based pastiglia, which stand out against gilded backgrounds—a delicate and subtle technique that enjoyed great success, especially in the Veneto. However, it was in the mid-16th century that Italian goldsmithing created one of its greatest masterpieces in the exquisite book casket known as the cassettina Farnese, now in the Museo Nazionale of Naples. The structural elements of the casket, inspired by Michelangelo, are worked in gilded silver and made light by the opaline transparencies of six engraved rock crystals. Commissioned by Cardinal Alessandro Farnese from the Florentine goldsmith Manno in 1548, the work was completed, after various interruptions, around the end of 1561; the six rock crystals were engraved by Giovanni Bernardi of Castelbolognese.
During the Baroque era and in modern times, c. of various sizes and uses have reflected the tastes of their respective periods.