Domus Dei : medieval tabernacles in the Basque country and their Atlantic connections

An essential element among medieval church furnishings was the tabernacle or sacrament house, where the consecrated Host was placed for storage toward the end of the Mass. While the most numerous and best studied of such tabernacles to survive are in and around Germany, this article offers a first comprehensive account of medieval tabernacles preserved in the Basque Country (País Vasco/Euskadi) of northern Spain; scholars have hitherto overlooked these tabernacles. The focus here is on tabernacles created between the councils of Lateran IV (1215) and Trent (1545–1563), when a lack of clear prescriptions resulted in considerable variety. All examples studied were produced in the late Gothic and early Renaissance styles, and these tabernacles' forms fall into two types: wall niches and freestanding towers. Many tabernacles consist only of architectural frames, but some feature elaborate iconographic programs; while some are true works of art, many others are rather modest or based on fine models but executed in a provincial manner. A fascinating aspect is the Atlantic geographic connections that become manifest in the Basque tabernacles, particularly to northern France and the Low Countries, with which the Basques were closely linked through maritime commerce.