Thurible

13th century gilden, incised, embossed brass; 20x12cm Church of san Gaudenzio a Ruballa The thurible rests on a small cylindrical foot. The cup is decorated with rather stylized symbols of the four evangelists: a bull (Saint Luke), an eagle (Sainr John), a lion (Saint Mark), and an angel (Saint Matthew). The haIfIength images of the benedictory Christ, the Madonna Saint Paul and Saint Peter are present on the cover, within smali arches. The lack of precise comparisons with similar objects in Tuscany, and more generally in Italy, has always made it difficult to place this object in an exact context.
Even though recently the critics also bave expressed the possibility that it could be a Byzantine product from the II th -12th centuries, the stylistic comparisons to the doors by Bonanno Pisano still seem to be the more plausible, confirming a date within the 13th century for the thurible.