Modena No. 1

Catalogued and illustrated in Romanica (2006): rectangular basin of a holy-water stoup of unknown origin; decorated on three sides, the fourth side blank; colonnettes of varied design (two torsade, two (?) fluted) with capitals and bases at the anglesl the side panels have: 1)narrow side: a male dressed in a rich short tunic invoques a demon that appears facing out; the nobleman kneels in fron ot the standing devil and holds in his right hand a large ring; the standing devil holds the ring with its left hand; the devil's right hand touches the nobleman's left hand; between them, on the ground, a barrel [of a large number of legends related to deals between gentlemen and the Devil, only one seems to explain the presence of the barrel here, the later legend of Gambrinus and the legendary invention of beer. Perhpas this scene is an earlier version localised in Emilia-Romagna, where the stoup is said to have originated. If, however, the context of the other sides of the stoup is relevant, as one would expect, the barrel might hark back to a practice by which Jews were baptised in barrels; the barrels were destroyed thereafter; this theory would not explain the 'deal' evidence that is so clearly shown in this scene. A more contemporary source might be the legend of Theophilus of Adana, which, though originating in 6th-century Greece, had later variations in western Europe in the 10th-11th century]; 2)front broad side: exorcism scene: a priest on the left, holding a book in his left hand and an aspergillum in his right hand; in fron of him a kneeling male has the right hand with two extended fingers to his forehead; between the two persons is a font or stoup consisting of a quadrangular basin or a pedestal base, the basin not too dissimilar from the one in the catalogue; to the right, and leaning on the kneeling male, three other males, each with the left hand on the preceeding person's shoulder, have their two-fingers of the right hand to their foreheads; 3)an apparent hunting scene: two males blowing horns and riding animals; the animal on the right appears to be a lion, the one on the left is a quadruped with an avian-like head. The stone is identified in this source as limestone, "pietra d'Istria". The base, if there was one, is missing. The work is dated in this source to the first quarter of the 12th century, and related to the workshop coordinated by Wiligelmo. The inner well is round at the bottom but rectangular at the top. [NB: a photograph of this stoup is viewable at http://imagesvr.library.upenn.edu/cgi/i/image/image-idx?q1=aaaModena%2C+12th+Century%2C+(Italian)aaa&cat1=All+Categories&thsz=12&txsz=50&slsz=1&c=fisher&sstrt=10&type=getsid&viewid=1&entryid=X-n2008040678&cc=fisher&ox=1&oy=1&lastres=3&returnto=&cross=&quality=small&res=3&image.x=128&image.y=191 [accessed 10 July 2009]