Bacini

"Bacino" redirects here. For a Baćino village, see Bátya.

Bacino (in the center). Basilica di San Pietro Apostolo [it], Pisa

In architecture, bacini (plural, singular Italian: bacino, IPA: [baˈtʃiːno]) are ceramic bowls that were used for decoration in the medieval Europe,[1] one of the characteristics of the Pisan Romanesque style.[2] Hundreds of the 11th-century bowls survived, all sourced from the Islamic territories on the Mediterranean,[1] production in Italy had started in the late 12th century.[3]

## Pisa[edit]

Pisa had a special affinity with bacini - about two thousand of these pieces were installed over five centuries.[4]

The 11th-century churches of Pisa originally had more than four hundred bacini, by 1970, only 146 were remaining. At this time, as part of the conservation work in Pisa, the bacini were removed from the buildings and replaced by replicas, an extensive catalog[5] was published in 1981 (superseded by a new book[6] in 2011).[3] Graziella Berti [it] suggested that the bacini and the initial church construction were contemporaneous, as places were left for these decorations while the buildings were erected. However, since few churches in Pisa date back to the early 11th century (San Piero a Grado, San Zeno, San Matteo [it]), this suggestion provide very early chronological dating for the bacini, 50 to 100 years out of alignment with, for example, Spain.[7]

Most of the Islamic bacini were imported from North Africa. Multiple gazing techniques were used, mostly lead glaze and tin glaze.[8]

The subjects, colors, and quality of painting on the bacini vary greatly. Most of the drawings involves geometric and floral shapes, some have Arabic writing or some resemblance of it, but there are also mythical and real animals (primarily birds), and a single human figure (at San Sisto). While some bacini exhibit good artistic skills and glazing craftmanship, many have low quality with imprecise figures and glazing (perhaps, they had been selected from discards). Apparently, since the bacini were located high on the walls and were not supposed to be seen up close, their quality did not matter, sometimes they were even placed upside down.[9]

Since the images on the bacini appear to be unimportant to the builders, a question of their purpose arises.[9] Since at the time Pisa already had a tradition of polychromic architecture,[9] it is possible that they were considered a low-cost alternative to stone medallions and spolia.[10] The other explanations include bacini being symbolic spoils of wars that Pisa successfully waged at the time,[11] emblems of the Crusader/trader mentality,[12] declaration of prosperity and rivalry with other maritime republics.[13]

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b Mathews 2014, p. 5.
2. ^ Collareta 2022, p. 439.
3. ^ a b Mathews 2014, p. 6.
4. ^ Mathews 2014, p. 12.
5. ^ Berti & Tongiorgi 1981.
6. ^ Berti & Giorgio 2011.
7. ^ Mathews 2014, p. 8.
8. ^ Mathews 2014, p. 7.
9. ^ a b c Mathews 2014, p. 10.
10. ^ Mathews 2014, pp. 10–11.
11. ^ Mathews 2014, p. 16.
12. ^ Mathews 2014, p. 18.
13. ^ Mathews 2014, p. 19.

## Sources[edit]

* Mathews, Karen Rose (2014). "Other Peoples' Dishes: Islamic Bacini on Eleventh-Century Churches in Pisa". Gesta. 53 (1): 5–23. doi:10.1086/675415. ISSN 0016-920X.
* Collareta, Marco (2022-04-15). "Art in Pisa in the Middle Ages". A Companion to Medieval Pisa. BRILL. pp. 435–455. doi:10.1163/9789004512719_020. ISBN 978-90-04-51271-9.
* Berti, Graziella; Tongiorgi, Liana (1981). I bacini ceramici medievali delle chiese di Pisa (in Italian). Roma: L'Erma di Bretschneider. ISBN 88-7062-523-0.
* Berti, Graziella; Giorgio, Marcella (2011-01-01). Ceramiche con coperture vetrificate usate come 'bacini' (in Italian). Borgo San Lorenzo (Firenze): All’Insegna del Giglio. ISBN 978-88-7814-501-6. OCLC 0712597351.

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