Eucharistic Tabernacles in Late Medieval Italy (13th–15th Centuries): Art, Material Culture, and Sacred Space

Ferruccio Botto, M.A.

The project investigates fixed Eucharistic tabernacles produced between the Fourth Lateran Council (1215) and the mid-15th century, in relation to their original spatial contexts, other liturgical furnishings, written sources, and depictions of rites and church interiors.

Italy offers a particularly rich field of study, although—unlike other European areas—its medieval tabernacles have largely disappeared as a result of transformations associated with the early Renaissance and the Council of Trent (1545–1563).

The research focuses especially on the central Italian territories corresponding to the present-day regions of Lazio, Umbria, and Tuscany, which witnessed the earliest emergence of the Eucharistic tabernacle on the peninsula. This phenomenon was prompted by the influence of the Apostolic See and the religious orders, as well as by Eucharistic devotion, specific liturgical and para-liturgical practices, and lay patronage.

Between the Middle Ages and the early modern period, the Eucharistic tabernacle became an increasingly defining feature of sacred space and was therefore a crucial element in the material culture of the late Middle Ages.

The project aims to present Italian medieval tabernacles in their long-term evolution leading towards the Counter-Reformation, within an interdisciplinary understanding of church settings, the perception of worshippers, and social and liturgical history.