TURIBOLO. — From the Latin thus, thuris, “incense,” it is a metal vessel for burning perfumes, whose religious use is attested, in the West as in the East, by archaeological finds and by glyptic and pictorial representations, including those relating to the most ancient civilizations (Egyptians, Etruscans, Celts, etc.). It is also called thymiaterium, incensorium, fumigatorium.
In the Catholic liturgy its use can be documented from as early as the second half of the fourth century (v. INCENSO); however, it is only to the eleventh century that the generalization of the typical structure may be traced, a structure which the t. retained down to our own day, while adapting itself, in its formal accessories and in details of decoration, to variations in taste and style determined by the changing artistic periods.
The present liturgical form is that of a bowl-shaped vessel with a base or foot, made of silver or another suitable metal, designed to contain a small brazier on which the grains of incense are placed. Above it is a lid with openings sufficient to allow air to circulate and the fragrant smoke to escape. Suspension and the manipulation required for the ritual swinging are made possible by a system of four chains: three lateral chains serve to join the bowl to a handle and to hold the lid by means of special sliders; the fourth, central chain is connected to a large ring projecting from the handle and serves to raise the lid for the insertion of the incense. The ancient t. were open, intended more to be carried, hung, or kept standing than to be swung; in the Ambrosian liturgy they are still open, as they are in the Eastern liturgy. The equipment is completed by a small vessel for holding the reserve of incense, called a “busta,” “pixis,” “scrinium,” or “capsula,” and, from the thirteenth century, “navicella,” after its distinctive shape. A small spoon has been used for placing in the incense since the eleventh century.
The primitive t., used among the Greeks and Romans and adopted by the early Church, took the form of simple boxes or bowls, held in the hand, set on tripods, or supported by chains (as can be seen, for example, in the mosaic of S. Apollinare and in a miniature in the Gellone Sacramentary, eighth century). Simple forms, although at times geometrically more articulated, are also found among the artifacts of the early Middle Ages, adorned with geometric decorations and repoussé engraving, as permitted by the metal used, which was predominantly bronze.
During the Romanesque period, the use of noble materials (gold and silver) and of complex decorations, including those executed with the chisel, became more frequent. The type with four chains spread and would subsequently prevail in the Gothic period. The most precious artistic examples preserved in the treasuries of basilicas and in Italian collections belong to this latter period (Anagni, Cathedral; Mozzanello, Parish Church; Francavilla a Mare, S. Franco; Mercatello, S. Francesco; Mileto, Cathedral; Padua, S. Antonio; Siena, Duomo). The ingenuity of Gothic goldsmiths reveled in architectural forms: spires, pinnacles, and small loggias that imitated tabernacles, towers, and the façades of churches and palaces. The artifacts of the sixteenth century, by contrast, testify to an approach to late-Renaissance forms, such as the t. of S. Giovanni Peresti at Stilo, or the other, which may be considered the masterpiece of the tabernacle type, in the cathedral of Borgo S. Donnino: its exceedingly fine execution has led it to be attributed to Cellini’s workshop. Among the innumerable examples of Baroque silverwork, notable for their assured taste and graceful ornamentation are the t. of the archpriestly church of S. Pietro at Magisano and of the cathedral of Rossano, both from the seventeenth century; and those of S. Maria Maggiore at Taverna; of S. Maria Maddalena at Norano Calabro; of the parish churches of Monchio and Bivongi; and of S. Petronio in Bologna, all from the eighteenth century. The t. of the cathedrals of Caulonia and Gerace are noteworthy in the nineteenth century. The finest examples of our own century belong to missionary art.
Closely connected with the t. is the navicella, a small boat-shaped metal vessel, rarely made of wood or crystal, which contains the incense. Among artistic navicelle, mention should be made, for example, of that in the Tesoro del Santo at Padua, which bears on the inside of its lid a fine inci-
(photo Alinari)
TURIBOLO - Deacon with a thurible. Detail of the mosaic depicting Giustiniano in the act of offering a golden paten for the sacrifice (6th century) - Ravenna, basilica of S. Vitale.
an engraving of the Pietà, by a Venetian artist of the 15th century, on the inner side of the door, that of the cathedral of Bologna from the 18th century, and those in the Treasury of S. Marco in Venice. - Vedi tav. XLIII.