A Short History of the Middle Ages Fourth Edition

Plate 5.1: San Miniato Cathedral (late 12th cent.). The façade of the cathedral of the town of San Miniato
was once decorated with bacini, bowls that sparkled in the Italian sun. In this picture you can see the small
round cavities where they once belonged. The bacino in Plate 5.2 was slightly above and just to the left
(from the viewer’s point of view) of the oculus (the round window). The bacini were, in effect, cheap and
attractive substitutes for marble or mosaics.