Turibulum

TURIBULUM. - From Lat. 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, relating also to the most ancient civilizations (Egyptians, Etruscans, Celts, etc.). It is also called thymiaterium, incensorium, fumigatorium.

In the Catholic liturgy its employment can be documented as early as the 2nd half of the 4th century (v. INCENSO), but only to the 11th century can the general spread be traced of the typical structure that the t. preserved down to our own days, even while adapting itself, in its formal accessories and in the details of its decoration, 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 metal suitable for containing a small brazier, on which the grains of incense are placed. Above it has a lid with openings sufficient to let the air circulate and to emit the perfumed smoke. The suspension and the manipulation of the ritual swinging are made possible by a system of four little chains: three lateral ones serve to join the cup to a handle and to hold back the lid by means of suitable slides; the fourth, central, is connected to a broad ring that emerges from the handle and serves to lift the lid for the introduction of the incense. Ancient t. were open, more for carrying or hanging or standing than for swinging; in the Ambrosian liturgy they are still open, as in the Eastern one. The equipment is completed by a small vessel, which serves to hold the reserve of incense, called "busta", "pixis", "scrinium", "capsula", and from the 13th century "navicella" from its specific shape. To put in the incense a small spoon is used (from the 11th century).

The primitive t., in use among the Greeks and Romans and adopted by the early Church, had the form of simple boxes or cups, held by hand, resting on tripods, or supported by little chains (as is seen, for example, in the mosaic of S. Apollinare and in a miniature of the Sacramentary of Gellone, 8th century). Simple forms, though sometimes geometrically more articulated, are also presented by the artifacts of the early Middle Ages, adorned with geometric decorations and repoussé engraving, as far as the metal used allowed, which is predominantly bronze.

In the Romanesque period the use of noble materials (gold, silver) and of complex decorations, including chased work, becomes more frequent. The type with four little chains spreads, which would then prevail in the Gothic period. To this latter period belong the most precious artistic examples 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; Mileto, Cathedral; Padua, S. Antonio; Siena, Cathedral). The fancy of the Gothic goldsmiths ran riot in architecture—spires, pinnacles, little loggias, which imitate tabernacles, towers, facades of churches and palaces. The artifacts of the 16th century instead testify to the approach to late-Renaissance forms, such as the t. of S. Giovanni Peresti at Stilo, or the other, which can be considered the masterpiece of the tabernacle type, of the cathedral of Borgo S. Donnino: its most refined execution has caused it to be assigned to the workshop of Cellini. Among the innumerable examples of Baroque silverware there stand out, for sureness of taste and grace of ornament, the t. of the archpriestal church of S. Pietro at Magisano and of the cathedral of Rossano, both of the 17th century; and those of S. Maria Maggiore at Taverna; of S. Maria Maddalena at Norano Calabro, of the parish churches of Monchio and Bivongi, of S. Petronio at Bologna, all of the 18th century. Praiseworthy, in the 19th century, are the t. of the cathedrals of Caulonia and Gerace. The best examples of our century belong to the art of the missions.

Closely connected to the t. is the navicella, a vessel in the shape of a little ship of metal, rarely of wood or crystal, which contains the incense. Among the artistic navicelle there are to be remembered, for example, that of the Tesoro del Santo at Padua, which bears on the inside of the little door a fine inci-

(phot. Alinari)
TURIBULUM - Deacon with a thurible. Detail of the mosaic depicting Justinian in the act of offering a golden paten for the sacrifice (6th century) - Ravenna, basilica of S. Vitale.

sion with the Pietà, by a Venetian author of the 15th century, that of the cathedral of Bologna of the 18th century, and those of the Treasury of St. Mark's in Venice. - See plate XLIII.

Riccardo Averini