A FOUNTAIN BASIN SCULPTED BY DRUDUS DE TRIVIO (fl c 1230–40): A RECONSIDERATION

Abstract

This article looks at a fountain basin that is of outstanding art-historical interest as a surviving example of secular Romanesque sculpture. The fountain basin is signed by the Italian sculptor Drudus de Trivio and is dated c 1240. The article situates the fountain basin within Drudus’s oeuvre – most notably the ciborium in Ferentino and the choir-screens at Cività Castellana – and relates it to the recently completed cloister sculpture of the Lateran and San Paolo fuori le mura, of which Drudus had close knowledge. Possible sources are explored, and chronology, classical precedents and the innovative use of garlands are discussed. A new translation of the inscription, which has been rather neglected in previous studies, is offered. The translation places the inscription within the wider context of Italian fountain inscriptions and is used to suggest that the fountain was secular in purpose with the aim of querying the long-standing view that Drudus carried out only liturgical sculpture, thereby adding to our understanding of the work of the Cosmati.