Giornico No. 1 / Girnis / Iornico / Iudicibus Giornicensis / Sgiurnì / Yrnis / Zurnigo

Image and permission received from the author via Mikel Unanue (e-mail of 25 June 2019)

Results: 32 records

Click to view images and/or subjects

animal - bird - goat - bird and goat

Scene Description: a bird facing left, with a goat on top

Image Source: digital photograph taken 17 May 2008 by Laurom [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Giornico_Chiesa_San_Nicolao_Fonte_Battesimale.jpg] [accessed 25 April 2015]

Copyright Instructions: PD

animal - mammal - goat

Scene Description: a goat facing left, stands on/over a bird

Image Source: digital photograph taken 17 May 2008 by Laurom [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Giornico_Chiesa_San_Nicolao_Fonte_Battesimale.jpg] [accessed 25 April 2015]

Copyright Instructions: PD

animal - mammal - lion?

Scene Description: a lion (?) running towards the right [NB: Marcionetti (1969) captions his illustration (fig. 3) "L'agnello' [=the lamb], but however scrawny the rendition may be, the animal is probably intended as a lion passant to the right, the characteristic tail above the hind quarters]

Image Source: digital photograph taken in Spring 2016 by Esteve i Esther, Bàsicament ROMÀNIC [http://estevesther.blogspot.ca/2017/02/primavera-2016-al-n-ditalia-segona.html] [accessed 6 August 2017]

Copyright Instructions: Permission received from the authors (e-mail of 6 August 2017)

design element - motifs - floral - rosette - in a circle - 9

Scene Description: Nine rosettes in a 3x3 pattern cover one side; seven of them are 6-petalled, one has eight petals and the central one has four petals resembling a cross

Copyright Instructions: Permission received from the authors (e-mail of 6 August 2017)

design element - motifs - piping

Scene Description: at the angles of the basin; some appear plain, but at least one is patterned

Image Source: digital photograph taken 12 November 2012 by Cassinam [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nicolao_Giornico_31.JPG] [accessed 25 April 2015]

Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-3.0

design element - patterns - torsade

Scene Description: on at least one of the angle pipings of the basin

Image Source: digital photograph taken 16 February 2011 by Adrian Michael [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:San_Nicola_Giornico_Taufstein2.jpg] [accessed 25 April 2015]

Copyright Instructions: GFDL / CC-BY-SA-3.0,2.5,2.0,1.0

symbol - cross - pattée - processional cross

Copyright Instructions: Permission received from the authors (e-mail of 6 August 2017)

view of church exterior - east view

Image Source: digital photograph taken 17 May 2008 by Laurom [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Giornico_Chiesa_San_Nicolao.jpg] [accessed 25 April 2015]

Copyright Instructions: PD

view of church exterior - façade - detail

Image Source: digital photograph taken 17 May 2008 by Laurom [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Giornico_Chiesa_San_Nicolao_Facciata_Decorazione_Zoomorfa.jpg] [accessed 25 April 2015]

Copyright Instructions: PD

view of church exterior - south portal

Image Source: digital photograph taken 17 May 2008 by Laurom [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Giornico_Chiesa_San_Nicolao_Portale_Laterale.jpg] [accessed 25 April 2015]

Copyright Instructions: PD

view of church exterior - south portal - detail

Scene Description: west side

Image Source: digital photograph taken 12 November 2012 by Cassinam [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nicolao_Giornico_20.JPG] [accessed 25 April 2015]

Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-3.0

view of church exterior - south portal - detail

Scene Description: east side

Image Source: digital photograph taken 12 November 2012 by Cassinam [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nicolao_Giornico_17.JPG] [accessed 25 April 2015]

Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-3.0

view of church exterior - south view

Image Source: digital photograph taken 16 February 2011 by Adrian Michael [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:San_Nicola_Giornico_aussen1.jpg] [accessed 25 April 2015]

Copyright Instructions: GFDL / CC-BY-SA-3.0,2.5,2.0,1.0

view of church exterior - west portal - detail

Scene Description: Source caption: "Leone stiloforo nel portale principale"

Image Source: digital photograph taken 17 May 2008 by Laurom [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Giornico_Chiesa_San_Nicolao_Portale_01.jpg] [accessed 25 April 2015]

Copyright Instructions: PD

view of church interior - apse - detail

Scene Description: Source caption: "Giornico, St. Nicolao church, Nicolao da Seregno, frescoes decorating the apse, 1478"

Image Source: digital photograph taken 17 May 2008 by Laurom [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Giornico_Chiesa_San_Nicolao_Affreschi_Abside.jpg] [accessed 25 April 2015]

Copyright Instructions: PD

view of church interior - apse - detail

Scene Description: Source caption: "Giornico, St. Nicolao church, Nicolao da Seregno, A miracle of St. Nicholas, frescoes decorating the apse, 1478"

Image Source: digital photograph taken 17 May 2008 by Laurom [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Giornico_Chiesa_San_Nicolao_Abside_San_Nicola.jpg] [accessed 25 April 2015]

Copyright Instructions: PD

view of church interior - apse - detail

Scene Description: Source caption: "Giornico, St. Nicolao church, Nicolao da Seregno, “The Holy Trinity ” (represented as “Vultus trifrons”), frescoes decorating the apse, 1478"

Image Source: digital photograph taken 17 May 2008 by Laurom [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Giornico_Chiesa_San_Nicolao_Affreschi_Abside_Trinità.jpg] [accessed 25 April 2015]

Copyright Instructions: PD

view of church interior - crypt - detail

Image Source: digital photograph taken 17 May 2008 by Laurom [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Giornico_Chiesa_San_Nicolao-Cripta_Capitelli_01.JPG] [accessed 25 April 2015]

Copyright Instructions: PD

view of church interior - crypt - detail

Image Source: digital photograph taken 17 May 2008 by Laurom [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Giornico_Chiesa_San_Nicolao-Cripta_Capitelli_02.JPG] [accessed 25 April 2015]

Copyright Instructions: PD

view of church interior - crypt - detail

Image Source: digital photograph taken 17 May 2008 by Laurom [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Giornico_Chiesa_San_Nicolao-Cripta_Capitelli_03.JPG] [accessed 25 April 2015]

Copyright Instructions: PD

view of church interior - crypt - detail

Image Source: digital photograph taken 17 May 2008 by Laurom [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Giornico_Chiesa_San_Nicolao-Cripta_Capitelli_04.JPG] [accessed 25 April 2015]

Copyright Instructions: PD

view of church interior - looking east

Image Source: digital photograph taken 25 June 2019 by Angeles Leal Arroyo

Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author via Mikel Unanue (e-mail of 25 June 2019)

view of font and cover

Image Source: digital photograph taken 16 February 2011 by Adrian Michael [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:San_Nicola_Giornico_Taufstein2.jpg] [accessed 25 April 2015]

Copyright Instructions: GFDL / CC-BY-SA-3.0,2.5,2.0,1.0

view of font and cover

Image Source: digital photograph taken 25 June 2019 by Angeles Leal Arroyo

Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author via Mikel Unanue (e-mail of 25 June 2019)

view of font and cover - east side

Image Source: digital photograph taken 25 June 2019 by Angeles Leal Arroyo

Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author via Mikel Unanue (e-mail of 25 June 2019)

view of font and cover - south side

Image Source: digital photograph taken 25 June 2019 by Angeles Leal Arroyo

Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author via Mikel Unanue (e-mail of 25 June 2019)

view of font and cover - southeast side

Image Source: digital photograph taken 25 June 2019 by Angeles Leal Arroyo

Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author via Mikel Unanue (e-mail of 25 June 2019)

view of font and cover in context

Image Source: digital photograph taken 12 November 2012 by Cassinam [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nicolao_Giornico_31.JPG] [accessed 25 April 2015]

Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-3.0

view of font and cover in context

Copyright Instructions: Permission received from the authors (e-mail of 6 August 2017)

view of font and cover in context

Image Source: Suisse romane (1958: pl. 11)

Copyright Instructions: PERMISSION NOT AVAILABLE -- IMAGE NOT FOR PUBLIC USE

view of font and cover in context - southwest side

Image Source: digital photograph taken 25 June 2019 by Angeles Leal Arroyo

Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author via Mikel Unanue (e-mail of 25 June 2019)

view of font and cover in context - southwest side

Image Source: digital photograph taken 25 June 2019 by Angeles Leal Arroyo

Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author via Mikel Unanue (e-mail of 25 June 2019)

INFORMATION

FontID: 02286GIO

Church/Chapel: Chiesa di San Nicolao [originally from San Michele]

Church Patron Saints: St. Nicholas of Myra

Church Location: 6745 Giornico, Switzerland

Country Name: Switzerland

Location: Ticino / Tessin

Directions to Site: Located N of Lucarno

Ecclesiastic Region: Diocesi di Lugano

Historical Region: Val Leventina

Font Location in Church: Inside the church, at the W end of the nave, N side. to the left of the W entrance (as you enter)

Century and Period: 13th century, Late Romanesque

Workshop/Group/Artisan: by the same master as the carver of the church at nearby Biasca animals?

Credit and Acknowledgements: We are grateful to Esteve i Esther, Bàsicament ROMÀNIC [http://estevesther.blogspot.ca/2017/02/primavera-2016-al-n-ditalia-segona.html], for their photographs of this font. We are also grateful to Pol Herman for his help in documenting this font

Church Notes: church documented by 1202 -- see http://estevesther.blogspot.com.es/2017/02/primavera-2016-al-n-ditalia-segona.html for a visit to the interior, photos, etc.

Font Notes: Click to view font notes

Described and illustrated in Piltz (1958), in Gilardoni (1958) and Marcionetti (1969). Illustrated in the Collection Max van Merchen, Swiss National Library [https://picryl.com/media/ch-nb-giornico-chiesa-fonte-battesimale-vue-partielle-collection-max-van-berchem-0a1a9c] [accessed 1 August 2023]: "Giornico, Chiesa, Fonte battesimale, vue partielle; Vue partielle de fonts baptismaux (article religieux utilisé lors de baptème) en pierre dans le style romain, dans l'église San Nicolao à Giornico dans le canton du Tessin". The font is a monolithic baseless hexagonal basin made of granite with crudely ornamented sides; one side has a very large potent ["pattée"] cross described in Piltz as "Krückenkreuz" [i.e., "crutched cross"], usually described as a "Henkelkreutz", which has a 5-petal flower (star?) over its right arm {it is in any case a processional cross as confirmed by the extension of the down arm, which lacks the potent marker]; the next side (left-to-right) has nine encircled floral motifs in rows and columns of three; six of which have six petals, two have nine petals and the one in the centre has only four, resembling a cross; the next side has two animals: a bird at the bottom and a goat on top, both facing left; the fourth side has a running quadruped [looks like a dog but is probably meant to be a lion] facing right [NB: this part of the basin has suffered the most damage, apparently after being used as a trough or water fountain]; the 5th and 6th faces are devoid of decor and believed to have been against a wall or column at the original site, the parish church of San Michele, near the present location at San Nicolao. The protruding vertical mouldings that mark the outer angles of the hexagon are individually decorated: torsade, fluted. etc. The upper rim of the basin has several holes and staples, evidence of an old cover, probably more elaborate than the present one: hexagonal, plain and flat, made of wood, with a handle. Gilardoni (Ibid.) suggests that the carver is not the master of the capitals of this church but, rather, a popular local carver, perhaps the same one who executed the animals at nearby Biasca. A communication from Pol Herman (e-mail of 14 October 2022) includes the following texts: "Giornico (Ticino, Italien), San Nicolao Kirche. Der Taufstein stammt aus dem alten, naheliegenen Friedhofsbasilika (Pfarrkirche) San Michele Arcangelo. Die Geburt des kleinen Priorats Giornico wird den Benediktinermönchen der piemontesischen Abtei San Benigno di Fruttuaria zugeschrieben, bekannten Erbauern heiliger Stätten, die ab dem 12. Jh. ein Reihe von „klösterlichen Stationen“ in den Gebieten der Alpenpässe stifteten, um das benediktinische Mönchtum in Nordosteuropa zu verbreiten. Die mit dem Schutzpatron der Langobarden geweihte romanische Kirche wurde 1210 bezeugt, am Standort eines älteren Sakralbaus. Im Laufe der Jahrhunderte wurde sie vollständig durch das heute sichtbare Gebäude ersetzt. Der sechseckige romanische Taufstein aus dem 12. Jahrhundert, einziger erhaltener Zeuge der Gründungzeit, diente als Brunnen in der Mitte des Dorfes. Siehe Bild aus 1904. Der befindet sich heute in der Westecke der San Nicolao Kirche. Der Bau ist bereits 1202 bezeugt und wurde 1210 vollendet. 1298 wird die Kirche als dem Benediktinerorden zugehörig erwähnt, der von der mächtigen Abtei Fruttuaria abhängig war. Es ist sehr wahrscheinlich, dass sie als Kirche eines benachbarten Klosters diente, von dem heute keine Spur mehr vorhanden ist. Der Taufstein hat Flachreliefs auf vier Seiten: juwelenbesetztes Kreuz, Ziege, Taube, Lamm, neun Rosen,... Am 20. October 1567 beschreibt S. Carlo den Taufstein als „vas amplum lapideum antiquum cum pluribus figuris in eo circum circa sculptis »." [cf. Index entry for Giornico No. 2 for a holy-water stoup in this church]

COORDINATES

Church Latitude & Longitude Decimal: 46.4005, 8.87426

Church Latitude & Longitude DMS: 46° 24′ 1.8″ N, 8° 52′ 27.34″ E

UTM: 32T 490334 5138555

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Material: stone, granite

Number of Pieces: one

Font Shape: hexagonal (unmounted)

Basin Interior Shape: hexagonal

Basin Exterior Shape: hexagonal

Diameter (inside rim): 125 cm*

Diameter (includes rim): 174 cm*

Basin Total Height: 90 cm*

Font Height (less Plinth): 90 cm*

Notes on Measurements: * Piltz (1958: 146-147)

LID INFORMATION

Date: modern

Material: wood,

Apparatus: no

Notes: hexagonal, flat and plain

REFERENCES

Burmeister, André, Suisse romane, La Pierre-qui-vire, Yonne: Zodiaque, 1958

Marcionetti, Isidoro, Antiche vasche battesimali del Ticino, Lugano: Labor Arti Grafiche S. A., 1969

Meier, Hans-Rudolf, Romanische Schweiz, Würzburg: Zodiaque-Echter, 1996