Furnaux No. 1 / Fenal

Noted in Crépin (1853). Noted and illustrated in Pudelko (1932) with date in the mid-13th century. Le Patrimoine Monumental de la Belgique (1975) describes the font as: "exceptionelle cuve baptismale circulaire en marbre noir de Dinant, ornée de sculptures et posant sur quatre lions couchés" and dates to the 12th century; the same source dates the copper font cover to the 16th century. The iconography of the font is studied in Tollenaere (1953), who gives the font at St-Barthélemy de Liège as cognate; she re-interprets the original view proposed by Crépin [cf. his "Notes d'un touriste" of 1853] and proposes that the first step is to un-do a mistake made in some past restoration: rotate the basin 50-60 degrees to the left so that the central scene, the Baptism of Christ, falls directly above the cluster of tangled dragons of the base; then, continues Tollenaere (ibid.), displace the basin with the base towards the right so that the main scene falls exactly between the two man-eating lions; then, adds Tollenaere, one can identify the scenes in the following manner (L->R): 1)John baptises Christ in the river Jordan in the presence of two angels holding vestments and a dove carrying a vial; 2)Covenance between God and Abraham; 3)Lot is lead from Sodom by an angel; 4)another angel hurries Lot, his wife and daughters away from Sodom, but Lot's wife has already becomed a pillar of salt; 5)Abraham and Lot kneeling before God and the celestial messengers. The ornamentation of the base is described in Tollenaere (ibid.) as a freeze with tangled dragons isupported by two man-eating lions; at the back, two more lions, one holds the Book of the Law, while the last one does not have any specific symbol; Tollenaere (ibid.) further remarks the strong influence of the Mosan metal masters on this work and dates it 1135-1150 on the stylistic evidence. Described and illustrated in Barral i Altet (1989). Described in Drake (2002). Colman & Colman (2002) date it to 1135-1150. Ghislain (2009) proposes a different reading from Tollenaere [cf. supra] and proposes that the general theme of the iconographic programme on this font is "l'accomplissement de l'ancienne Loi dans le Christ annoncé par Jean-Baptiste"; with regards the programme on the lower side, Ghislain defers to Close-Dehin (2008), it "exprime le mystère de deux Testaments selon la pensée messianique de Luc" [Luke (1, 5-25, 57-80; 3, 1-22]. The programme on the main area of the basin sides develops left to right, has the prophet Zechariah in all scenes to the left of the Baptism of Christ; the first scene ["tableau"] represents Zechariah with his wife Elizabeth, and the Annunciation to Zacharias by the archangel Gabriel: Elizabeth will give birth to a son whom they will name John; he will be the precursor of Christ [Luke, 1, 12-17]; the second "tableau" has Zacharias transmitting Gabriel's prophecy to his young son John; the third "tableau" is the Baptism of Christ; the two amphisbaena dragons represent the forces of evil defeated by Christian baptism. Ghislain (ibid.) refers again to Close-Dehin's reading of the meaning for the four lions of the base. Ghislain (ibid.) states that this font originated in the regional workshop that was active ca, 1150-1155 in the abbey of Florennes, following the mandate of abbot Drogon de Tinlot.