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DOI Artikel:Timmermann, Achim: A promise of paradise: microarchitecture, baptism and the font ciborium of St. Severus in Erfurt =
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.35031#0191
A PROMISE OF PARADISE
183
7. &//; Ctortttt/tt i/t Futet^tto, Fonio, Ft/p/t'.sfoty
(7ttnge/y 732-777), //tto/i'or /font wo,s't
The second category of structure designed to protect the font and its holy contents
comprises font ciboria, often richly articulated microarchitectural edifices that create a
hermetic and privileged liturgical space within the buildings in which they are located. In
contrast to the three-sided Erfurt ciborium - undoubtedly the most sensational exponent of
this group - most extant ciboria are extrapolated from an octagonal ground plan; among
the numerous examples are those of Tredez-Locquemeau in Brittany (early-16th-centu-
ry),^- and of St. Mary's in Luton, Bedfordshire (ca. 1330-40).*^ The Luton ciborium (i 11. 6)
is in fact the oldest such structure in existence; as I demonstrate in a separate study,^ the
closest formal parallels to this work are to be found not in England, but on the Continent,
particularly in a group of late-13th-century Easter Sepulchers and similar such pieces,
which includes, among other works, the famous Not/tgoy GmF in the Rotunda of St. Mau-
rice at Constance Cathedral (ca. 1270-80).^ In contrast to the GmF, however,
which features a duodecagonal plan, the Luton ciborium rises, like many of those from the
same period, over an octagon, a figurę that clearly references the hallowed geometrical lay-
out of early Christian baptisteries, such as those of S. Tecla in Milan, S. Vitale in Ravenna or
of San Giovanni in Laterano in Romę (ill. 7), the latter founded by Constantine the Great in
often dispense with iniages altogether and solely rely on their microarchitectural rhetoric (see, for instance: the wooden
covers of Sudbury, Suffolk; Worstead, Norfolk; and Ewelnie, Oxfordshire). For English font covers, see in particular
BOND, Font^ anr/ Font Cowr^... (as in notę 16), pp. 281-313; cf. also Paul W. NORMAN, F^gir FonG anJ Font
CoFgr^, Norman to Ningtggnt/r Gontary, Baldock 1986. For the Ewelnie font cover and its artistic context, see now also
John A.A. GOODALL, Go27 Non^g ot Fwg/mg.* Fi/g, Dgnotion onr/ ArcFitgctMfg in o Fi/tognt/i-Gntnry FinM/ionAg,
Aldershot 2001.
Cf.: Joel PERIN and Sandro VASCO ROSA [eds], F/ig^onriM 3g^ o^/Ft? rg/igigror.' MgnF/gy, oii/FA /inggj', wtowonty
gt in^tmngnt^ & mn^i^Mg & cnitg cat/ioii^ng ronioin, Paris 1999, p. 56, with colour iii.
Nicholas PEVSNER, Fggi/br2Niirg an3 t/rg Connty ofT/nntinggion ongi RgigiForong/? ('F/m FniMing^ o/F^^an2'),
Harmondsworth 1968, p. 165.
^ T1MMERMANN, M/'croarć7a'tgctMrg onr/My^ticoi Dgot/:..., op. cit. - notę 2.
For the FFiiigg.? GroF, see esp.: Georg POENSGEN, Doy 7/giiigg GraF za Fon^tanz.' Fin FiMFanJ. Uberlingen 1948,
with numerous figs.
183
7. &//; Ctortttt/tt i/t Futet^tto, Fonio, Ft/p/t'.sfoty
(7ttnge/y 732-777), //tto/i'or /font wo,s't
The second category of structure designed to protect the font and its holy contents
comprises font ciboria, often richly articulated microarchitectural edifices that create a
hermetic and privileged liturgical space within the buildings in which they are located. In
contrast to the three-sided Erfurt ciborium - undoubtedly the most sensational exponent of
this group - most extant ciboria are extrapolated from an octagonal ground plan; among
the numerous examples are those of Tredez-Locquemeau in Brittany (early-16th-centu-
ry),^- and of St. Mary's in Luton, Bedfordshire (ca. 1330-40).*^ The Luton ciborium (i 11. 6)
is in fact the oldest such structure in existence; as I demonstrate in a separate study,^ the
closest formal parallels to this work are to be found not in England, but on the Continent,
particularly in a group of late-13th-century Easter Sepulchers and similar such pieces,
which includes, among other works, the famous Not/tgoy GmF in the Rotunda of St. Mau-
rice at Constance Cathedral (ca. 1270-80).^ In contrast to the GmF, however,
which features a duodecagonal plan, the Luton ciborium rises, like many of those from the
same period, over an octagon, a figurę that clearly references the hallowed geometrical lay-
out of early Christian baptisteries, such as those of S. Tecla in Milan, S. Vitale in Ravenna or
of San Giovanni in Laterano in Romę (ill. 7), the latter founded by Constantine the Great in
often dispense with iniages altogether and solely rely on their microarchitectural rhetoric (see, for instance: the wooden
covers of Sudbury, Suffolk; Worstead, Norfolk; and Ewelnie, Oxfordshire). For English font covers, see in particular
BOND, Font^ anr/ Font Cowr^... (as in notę 16), pp. 281-313; cf. also Paul W. NORMAN, F^gir FonG anJ Font
CoFgr^, Norman to Ningtggnt/r Gontary, Baldock 1986. For the Ewelnie font cover and its artistic context, see now also
John A.A. GOODALL, Go27 Non^g ot Fwg/mg.* Fi/g, Dgnotion onr/ ArcFitgctMfg in o Fi/tognt/i-Gntnry FinM/ionAg,
Aldershot 2001.
Cf.: Joel PERIN and Sandro VASCO ROSA [eds], F/ig^onriM 3g^ o^/Ft? rg/igigror.' MgnF/gy, oii/FA /inggj', wtowonty
gt in^tmngnt^ & mn^i^Mg & cnitg cat/ioii^ng ronioin, Paris 1999, p. 56, with colour iii.
Nicholas PEVSNER, Fggi/br2Niirg an3 t/rg Connty ofT/nntinggion ongi RgigiForong/? ('F/m FniMing^ o/F^^an2'),
Harmondsworth 1968, p. 165.
^ T1MMERMANN, M/'croarć7a'tgctMrg onr/My^ticoi Dgot/:..., op. cit. - notę 2.
For the FFiiigg.? GroF, see esp.: Georg POENSGEN, Doy 7/giiigg GraF za Fon^tanz.' Fin FiMFanJ. Uberlingen 1948,
with numerous figs.