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The Microarchitectural Stage-Management of Baptism from Lateran IV to the Counter-Reformation
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 April 2020
Abstract
Although not liturgically mandated, the ostentatious microarchitectural font cover became one of the most significant ecclesiastical furnishings of the later Middle Ages. In fact, as a church fixture it survived well into the seventeenth century, not only in Catholic but also in Protestant regions, even though its eye-catching forms represented an obvious target for radical reformers and iconoclasts. Despite their enduring presence and their obvious importance to the communities that erected them, font covers remain little researched and understood. Revolving around a discussion of their intensely visual nature, this article is an attempt at a first outline of a history of this fascinating genre of church furnishing.
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- Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2020
Footnotes
For A and Z. Heartfelt thanks to Robert Bork of the University of Iowa, Silvia Schlegel of the Museum Schloss Kyburg, Zürich, and the anonymous reviewer for their comments and suggestions.
References
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70 At Terrington the shutters reveal a broad painted panorama of the Holy Land centring on the baptism of Christ. The individual scenes and figures are briefly described in Goodall, Parish church treasures, 179, with figure.
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