Church Service.—Mass and liturgy constituted the central point and outer form of the church service until Protestantism restored to instruc tion by means of the sermon its original importance. The separation of the choir from the congregation corresponded to the strict division into clergy and laymen. This distinction was made even more striking by the erection of the chancel screen. The altar formed the central point of the choir, over the tomb or at least the relics of some saint. Originally it was a simple stone table (pl. 55, fig. r), but gradually it developed into magnificent structures and winged shrines, such as are shown in Figure 2. The altar was the spot where the sacrifice of the Saviour was again con summated and the mysterious change of the bread accomplished. Its outfit and adornments were consequently exceedingly rich and symbolical. The host was preserved in a separate shrine near the altar, usually in or on the wall of the choir, but sometimes in an artistically constructed tab ernacle with ornamented doors (fig. 3), or even in a separate building within the church, such as the famous tabernacle of Adam Kraft at Nu remberg. The stalls, or seats intended exclusively for the clergy, sur rounded the altar; they served a liturgical purpose in the choir (fig. 4). As is well known, masterpieces of wood-carving occur among them which deserve the fullest recognition in the history of art.
The baptismal font formed to a certain extent the transition from the clergy to the congregation. In Southern countries, as in Italy, it retained longer than elsewhere its primitive form of an enclosed and roofed bath (fig. 5), and it was often, as in the famous baptisteries of Pisa and Flor ence, situated in a separate chapel apart from the church. In Northern countries it stood usually between the choir and the body of the church. It was made of stone or bronze, add varied in style from the simple Roman forms to the elaborate Gothic (fig. 6). When the custom of bap tizing by immersion fell into disuse, small vessels, such as the well-known Nuremberg basins („6/. 42,fig. 13), were used.
The pulpit stood in the body of the church, usually against one of the pillars (pl. 55, Jig. S). By means of architectural and sculptural decora tions it contributed to the general ornamentation of the church edifice.
The religious ceremonies of the early Christians lacked determinative form, the more so as motives based on principle led to the rejection of pagan models. Still, we may perceive from the Catacombs, which were places of refuge during the early persecutions, that specially consecrated spots were chosen, generally near the tomb of sonic distinguished martyr (pl. 57, fig. 1), for their worship, and that they also used sonic cere monies. The best known of their celebrations were the love feasts and the commemoration of the Last Supper, from which originated the sacra ment of the communion.
The Ritual of the mediaeval Church was developed through the prac tice of centuries and the decisions of many councils. It required a con secrated altar to be covered with three white cloths, the uppermost hang ing to the ground at both ends, and to have in front an an/cp./alum or veil, either embroidered or ornamented with metal reliefs. A crucifix stood in the centre of the altar, flanked by two lighted candles, and at its foot a tablet with prayers, while a similar tablet stood at each end. On the right or Epistle side of the altar stood the desk for the mass-book, with a lighted candle at its side. The left side, that of the Gospel, afforded room for articles which were not constantly on the altar. The chalice and host
were placed on a white cloth during the consecration, and after it the cloth was folded and placed in a special case. A linen lid or pall covered the chalice; a similar cloth was used for drying the implements. When brought to the altar at the beginning of the mass the chalice had to be covered with a veil having ornamented edges.
The color of this veil, like that of the lid of the chalice, of the ante pendium of the altar, and of the vestments of the celebrant priest and his assistant deacons, etc., varied according to the seasons and festivals of the Church: white was worn at all feasts of the Saviour, of the holy virgins and confessors who were not martyrs, on Corpus Christi, All Saints' Day, etc. ; red was used on Pentecost and at feasts of the apostles and martyrs; black on Good Friday and at funeral masses; violet during Advent and Lent and on occasions of penance, Ash Wednesday, etc.; and green on other stated days. As it might occasionally happen that divine service would have to be celebrated at altars unprovided with the necessary imple ments, flat tops with all things necessary for saying mass were consecrated as portable altars (ft. 56, fig-. ri). In the Greek Church a consecrated cloth spread upon a table sufficed to constitute the altar.
Church Utensils.—All these and other ceremonies and arrangements have remained in use in the Roman Catholic Church essentially unchanged. But the fonn of the vessels and the decoration of the vest ments varied greatly with the tastes of each period, though the Church sought by its rules to regulate them. Plate 56 exhibits a number of ancient styles. The aquamanile (fig. 22), a bronze vessel from which the altar-boy poured water over the priest's hands during the mass, is no doubt of very ancient origin. It calls to mind the shapes of the Gallo Roman earthen vessels which have occasionally been found in tombs and ruins in France. Down to the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries such ves sels, which were not strictly sacred vessels, bore the shapes of men, ani mals, and mythical subjects. A favorite shape for the altar candlesticks was that of a dragon (fig. 14). Such forms were also in profane use, and testify to the hold which the ancient Teutonic legends and poetry, which took great delight in the description of contests with huge serpents, had on the popular imagination, and which, in representing such monsters in artistic forms, celebrated new victories over them. Oriental influence is to be recognized in the jugs and pitchers (fig. 15) made of rock-crystal with metal setting which are preserved in Venice. The Church, however, sought to remodel all foreign elements according to its own views, and to make them symbolical, as is shown in the enamelled oil-vessel in the shape of a dove (fig. 21). But it was owing to the industrial arts, especially those of the goldsmith and weaver, that, after many awkward attempts, like the Munich reliquary (fig. io), continued down to the eleventh and twelfth centuries, a uniform and expressive style was created for church-vessels by means of the Roman and Gothic forms. We place together for purposes of comparison the famous chalice of the Bavarian duke Tassilo (fig. 1) and a Gothic chalice (fig. 2). The holy-water pot (fig. 17) is a specimen of early Roman art; the incense-vessel or thurible (fig. 16) and the cross (fig. 19) are later Roman; and the ciborium (fig. 20), or receptacle for the host, marks the transition to Gothic art.