Taken on their own, tabernacles are not something we have generally featured here to date, in part because in recent centuries these typically have manifested themselves as little more than a veiled door embedded within a reredos. In that particular regard, there isn't a great to feature beyond an ornamental door. However, there are many styles of tabernacle that are much more substantial, particularly in the the counter-reformation periods, which have a substantiality to them akin to the great sacrament towers that could be found in some of the greater churches of the middle ages.
One such example of a monumental tabernacle is that found within the Sacrament Chapel of the Cathedral of Palmero in Sicily. designed in the seventeenth century -- specifically 1653 -- by the Neopolitan artist and sculpture, Cosimo Fanzago (1591-1678). Fanzago was a great promoter of early baroque and frequently employed the use of polychrome marbles and other precious stone. In the case of the great tabernacle of the Sacrament Chapel of Cathedral of Palermo, it is particularly noteworthy for its use of lapus lazuli, an exquisitely coloured blue stone whose use is known to date far back in antiquity.
So precious was this stone that it ornamented the jewellery of the likes of Pharaohs of Egppt and the Florentine Medici, to name but a couple of instances, and what better use could this precious stone find that to encase and honour, not the visage of some prominent personage, but rather the Blessed Sacrament.
In addition to this precious stone, the tabernacle is also constructed of bronze and marble.
In form it takes on the shape of a cupola or octagonal church (one might think here of the Church of Santissimo Nome di Maria al Foro Traiano in Rome) giving it a monumental presence worthy of a cathedral Sacrament chapel.
The main door of the tabernacle proper includes the double-headed eagle, which is a nod to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and the Habsburgs. A gradine for the altar of the Sacrament chapel itself continues the use of lapus lazuli -- and I would be remiss to not note the beautiful portapalme (i.e. metallic flowers) which have been tastefully set between the six candleisticks. Figural sculptures of saints in bronze may also be found encircling the piece.
It is, however, the domed portion of the tabernacle structure where the richness and vibrancy of the lapus lazuli stone especially shines, calling out to the visitors of the cathedral almost like a beacon, drawing one's attention to the Blessed Sacrament.
A true masterwork, exuding a noble beauty that will both inspire piety and draw attention to the even greater treasure that is contained within.
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