The Luke mentioned in the inscription was the first chief abbot of the monasteries in Messina, Sicily. The Greek crosses and vine scroll decoration reflect a merging of local and Byzantine artistic vocabularies.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Baptismal Font
Date:1137
Geography:Made in probably Sicily, Calabria, Southern Italy
Culture:South Italian
Medium:Marble (Pentelic marble)
Dimensions:Overall: 26 3/4 x 24 7/16 in. (68 x 62 cm) rim thickness: 1 3/4 in. (4.4 cm)
Classification:Sculpture-Stone
Credit Line:Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
Accession Number:17.190.2125
The undecorated base and the circular basin it supports are carved from a single block of fine Pentelic marble, likely originally an antique capital. The practice of reusing stones first quarried and shaped in antiquity was common throughout the Middle Ages, especially in regions that preserved the tangible remains of the ancient past. Four Greek crosses in low relief, each inscribed within a circle, are evenly spaced on lower section. Above the crosses, the circumference of the basin is decorated with a wide band of interlace and flowering acanthus also carved in low relief. The medieval Greek inscription elegantly carved into the rim can be translated: "In the times of the illustrious King Roger, the most holy Luke having been appointed to rule the monks, this vessel was wrought in the five and fortieth, six hundred and sixth thousand passage of time." Despite abrasion, chips in the carving and water damage in the interior, the basin is in good condition.
We are unusually well informed about this marble font from the Abbey of Santa Maria del Pátir near Rossano in Calabria by the inscription and by later documentary evidence. It held the holy water used for baptisms and benedictions, which was consecrated on Epiphany, the day commemorating Christ’s baptism. Roger of course refers to the Norman king Roger II of Sicily (r. 1130-54) and Luke is the archimandrite, or superior of a group of monasteries in the Eastern Church, based in Messina. The date corresponds to A.D. 1137.
A closely related marble font from the ruined monastery of San Salvatore in Messina, also no doubt a reworked antique capital, is today in the Museo Reggionale in Messina. Its shape echoes the Metropolitan’s basin and its surface features similar interlaced acanthus in low relief. The Messina font is further embellished with four masks carved in high relief on the circumference. It can be dated by its inscription, which also refers to the archimandrite Luke, to 1135. Furthermore, the inscription on the font in Messina mentions Gandolfo as the sculptor responsible for the carving. Given the remote location of the Calabrian abbey, it is likely that both pieces were carved in Sicily. It should be noted, however, that the masks on the Sicilian font and the name Gandolfo suggest that the carver’s origin was in northern Europe. The marble basin is an excellent example of nonfigurative sculpture, reminding us that much early medieval sculpture, including many examples in the Metropolitan’s collection, was embellished with scrolls, plants, and other decorative motifs.
Selected reference:
Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Lisbeth, and Jack Soultanian. Italian Medieval Sculpture in The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Cloisters. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2010. no. 10, pp. 42–46.
Entry by Peter Barnet, curator emeritus, Department of Medieval Art and The Met Cloisters
[2020; adapted from draft Barnet Sculpture Catalogue]
In the time of the illustrious King Roger [Roger II King of Sicily (r. 1101–54)], the most holy Luke, having been appointed to rule the monks, had this vessel made in a.d. 1137.
Santa Maria del Pátir, near Rossano (Calabria); Baroni Compagni, Corigliano; J. Pierpont Morgan (American), London and New York (until 1917)
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Orsi, Paolo. Le chiese basiliane della Calabria. Collezione Meridionale, ser. 3, Il Mezzogiorno Artistico, Vol. 5. Florence: Vallecchi, 1929. pp. 142–47.
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Gradilone, Alfredo. Storia di Rossano. Cosenza: MIT, 1967. p. 226.
Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Lisbeth. "Romanesque Sculpture in North American Collections. XXII. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Part II: Italy." Gesta 24, no. 1 (1985). no. 2, pp. 63–64, fig. 2.
Zinzi, Emilia. "La Conca del Patirion (1137): Un recupero e alcune considerazioni sulla cultura figurativa dei monsteri italo-greci del sud in età normanna." Rivista Storica Calabrese 6, nos. 1-4 (1985). fig. 1, 6.
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Mastelloni, Maria Amalia. "Un'officina di periodo normanno legata all'Archimandritato del S.mo Salvatore in Lingua Phari ed alcuni materiali scultorei messinesi." In Calabria bizantina: Il territorio grecanico da Leucopetra a Capo Bruzzano, edited by Giuseppe Polimeni. Soveria Mannelli: Rubbettino Editore, 1995. pp. 144, n. 9, 165.
Zinzi, Emilia. "La 'Conca del Patirion' ed altre sculture battisterali d'età normanna nel sud monastico." Napoli Nobilissima, 4th ser., 34, nos. 1-2 (January-April 1995). pp. 3–18, fig. 1.
Orsi, Paolo. Le chiese basiliane della Calabria. Catanzaro: Edizione Meridiana, 1997. pp. 133–37.
Di Dario Guida, Maria Pia. La cultura artistica in Calabria, dall'alto Medioevo all'età aragonese. Rome: Gangemi, 1999. pp. 49–50, fig. 36.
Di Gangi, Giorgio. "La Calabria." In La scultura d'età normanna tra Inghilterra e Terrasanta: Questioni storiografiche, edited by Mario D'Onofrio. Fonti e studi (Centro Europeo di Studi Normanni), Vol. 11. Rome: Editori Laterza, 2001. pp. 180–81.
Gandolfo, Francesco. "La Sicilia." In La scultura d'età normanna tra Inghilterra e Terrasanta: Questioni storiografiche. Rome: Editori Laterza, 2001. pp. 199–200, 221, n.3.
Di Dario Guida, Maria Pia. Alla ricerca dell'arte perduta: Il medioevo in Italia meridionale. Cultura del Presente, Vol. 3. Rome: Gangemi, 2006. pp. 49, 60, fig. 28.
Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Lisbeth, and Jack Soultanian. Italian Medieval Sculpture in The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Cloisters. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2010. no. 10, pp. 42–46.
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