TURIBOLO. – From the Latin *thus, thuris* “incense,” it is a metal vessel for burning perfumes, whose religious use is attested, in both the West and the East, by archaeological finds and glyptic, pictorial representations relating even to the most ancient civilizations (Egyptians, Etruscans, Celts, etc.). It is also called *thymiatrium*, *incensorium*, *fumigatorium*.
In Catholic liturgy its use is documented by the mid-4th century (see INCENSE), but it is only in the 11th century that one can trace the general adoption of the typical structure that the turibolo has preserved to our own day, even though it has adapted, in its formal accessories and decorative details, to the variations of taste and style determined by the changing artistic seasons.
The current liturgical form is that of a cup-shaped vessel with a base or foot, of silver or another suitable metal, to contain a small brazier upon which the grains of incense are placed. Above it has a lid with sufficient openings to allow air to circulate and to emit the fragrant smoke. The suspension and the ritual waving motion are made possible by a system of four chains: three lateral ones serve to connect the cup with a handle and to hold the lid in place by means of special runners; the fourth, central one, is attached to a broad ring that projects from the handle and is used to lift the lid for the insertion of the incense. Ancient turiboli were open, more for carrying or for hanging or holding upright than for swinging; in the Ambrosian liturgy they are still open, as in the Eastern liturgy. The apparatus is completed by a small container, which serves to hold the reserve of incense, called a “busta,” “pixis,” “scrinium,” “capsula,” and since the 13th century a “navicella” from its specific shape. To place the incense a spoon has been used (since the 11th century).
The primitive turiboli, in use among the Greeks and Romans and adopted by the early Church, had the form of simple boxes or cups, held in the hand, set on tripods, or suspended by chains (as seen, for example, in the museum of S. Apollinare and in a miniature of the Sacramentary of Gellone, 8th century). Simple forms, albeit sometimes more geometrically articulated, are also found in artifacts from the early Middle Ages, adorned with geometric decorations and repoussé engravings, consistent with the metal used, which is predominantly bronze.
In the Romanesque period the use of noble materials (gold, silver) and complex decorations, including chasing, becomes more frequent. The type with four chains spreads, which would then prevail in the Gothic period. To this latter period belong the most precious artistic specimens that are preserved in the treasuries of basilicas and in Italian collections (Anagni, Cathedral; Mozzanello, Parish Church; Francavilla a Mare, S. Franco; Mercatello, S. Francesco; Miletto, Cathedral; Padua, S. Antonio; Siena, Duomo). The inventiveness of Gothic goldsmiths ran riot in architectural pinnacles, spires, loggias, which imitate tabernacles, towers, façades of churches and palaces. The artifacts of the 16th century instead bear witness to the approach to late Renaissance forms, such as the turibolo of S. Giovanni Peresti in Stilo, or another, which may be considered the masterpiece of the tabernacle type, from the cathedral of Borgo S. Donnino: its exquisitely fine execution has led it to be attributed to the workshop of Cellini. Among the innumerable specimens of Baroque silverwork, those of the archpriest church of S. Pietro in Magisano and of the cathedral of Rossano, both from the 17th century, and those of S. Maria Maggiore in Taverna; of S. Maria Maddalena in Norano Calabro, of the parish churches of Monchio and Bivongi, of S. Petronio in Bologna, all from the 18th century, stand out for their sure taste and graceful ornamentation. Notable in the 19th century are the turiboli of the cathedrals of Caulonia and Gerace. The finest specimens of our own century belong to the art of the missions.
Closely connected to the turibolo is the navicella, a vessel in the shape of a small ship of metal, rarely of wood or crystal, which contains the incense. Among artistic navicelle, mention may be made, for example, of that in the Treasury of the Santo in Padua, which bears