Fig. 152.—Gloucester Candlestick;
Twelfth Century.
The churches of this century were, as a rule, furnished with large standing candlesticks or coronas for holding lights, many of which were of good design, were made of silver, and sometimes enamelled. The large seven-branched candlestick of the Cathedral of Milan—before mentioned—is an important work of this period, a copy of which is in the Kensington Museum. The material is gilt bronze, and the candlestick is over 14 feet in height; the design is extremely rich (Fig. 153), the base being composed of four winged dragons with voluted tails; the spaces between the dragons are filled with elaborate scroll-work, and symbolic subjects fill the volutes (Fig. 154). The lower boss is richly ornamented, but the other five are plain. Three pairs of graceful branches spring from the central stem to hold the lights.
The whole design is a reminiscence of the Jewish seven-branched candlestick. One smaller in size is in the Brunswick Cathedral, and another one is at Essen.
Censers, reliquaries, and shrines were made at this period in the shape of little churches (Fig. 155). The reliquaries contained the bones of saints or other precious relics. Sometimes they were made in the form of a human head, with a band or ribbon around it set with gems. This kind of reliquary was called a “chef”; one of this description is in the Cathedral at Bâsle.
Fig. 153—Seven-Branched Candlestick in Milan Cathedral.
The bronze censer (Fig. 156) of the twelfth century is a good specimen of the architectural design in the Romanesque metal work of this time. The reliquaries are usually of copper-gilt and enamelled, or are occasionally in gold. These objects have been noticed in the chapter on enamels. The larger coffer-shaped ones with sloping roofs are called châsses, some of which are six and seven feet in length. Most of them are of copper-gilt and enamelled, and are German work, made for the most part at Cologne and in the Rhenish Provinces, and were generally of Romanesque or Gothic design even up to the sixteenth century.
Fig. 154.—Lower Boss of the Milan Candlestick; Twelfth Century.