Saint-Savin-de-Lavedan No. 1 / Saint-Savin-en-Lavedan / Santi Savini di Bigorra / Santi Savini Levitanensis

Image copyright © Juan Antonio Olañeta, 2006

Standing permission

Results: 9 records

human figure - male - standing - arms akimbo - 2

Scene Description: Two male figures, on opposite sides of the stoup, standing with hands on their haunches

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Baptisteria Sacra Index, 2023

Image Source: photograph taken 9 July 2001 by BSI

view of basin - upper view

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Baptisteria Sacra Index, 2023

Image Source: photograph taken 9 July 2001 by BSI

view of church exterior in context

Scene Description: Source caption: "Planche gravée du 17ème siècle représentant l'abbaye de Saint-Savin-en-Lavedan, en France, dans le livre Monasticon Gallicanum."

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © [in the public domain]

Image Source: 17thC engraving in the Bibliothèque nationale de France [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Abbaye_de_Saint-Savin-en-Lavedan_dans_Monasticon_Gallicanum.jpg] [accessed 19 March 2016]

Copyright Instructions: PD

view of stoup

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Baptisteria Sacra Index, 2023

Image Source: photograph taken 9 July 2001 by BSI

view of stoup - east side

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Juan Antonio Olañeta, 2006

Image Source: digital photograph taken by Juan Antonio Olañeta in September 2006 [www.claustro.com]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

view of stoup - north side

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Juan Antonio Olañeta, 2006

Image Source: digital photograph taken by Juan Antonio Olañeta in September 2006 [www.claustro.com]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

view of stoup - north side - detail

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Juan Antonio Olañeta, 2006

Image Source: digital photograph taken by Juan Antonio Olañeta in September 2006 [www.claustro.com]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

view of stoup - south side

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Juan Antonio Olañeta, 2006

Image Source: digital photograph taken by Juan Antonio Olañeta in September 2006 [www.claustro.com]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

view of stoup - south side - detail

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Juan Antonio Olañeta, 2006

Image Source: digital photograph taken by Juan Antonio Olañeta in September 2006 [www.claustro.com]

Copyright Instructions: Standing permission

INFORMATION

FontID: 00464SAV
Church/Chapel: Eglise abbatiale de Saint-Savin de Lavedan [originally from the disused parish church?]
Church Patron Saints: St. Savin
Church Location: 1 place du Castet, 65400 Saint-Savin, France -- Tel.: +33 5 62 97 02 23
Country Name: France
Location: Hautes-Pyrénées, Occitanie
Directions to Site: Located off the D13, 15 km down the N21, Lourdes to Cauterets
Ecclesiastic Region: Diocèse de Tarbes et Lourdes
Historical Region: La Bigorre
Font Location in Church: Inside the church, in the E end, S side
Century and Period: 12th - 13th century / 15th century, Late Romanesque / Early Gothic?
Credit and Acknowledgements: We are grateful to Juan Antonio Olañeta, of www.claustro.com, for his photographs of this stoup
Church Notes: original 4th-5thC monastery raided by the Sarracens; re-built by Charlemagne; destroyed in 841 by the Normans; re-built in 945; 11thC Eglise Saint-Jean-de-Saint-Savin was parish church for the area
This is probably the font noted and illustrated in Ruprich-Robert (1855). The holy-water stoup at the church of Saint-Savin, near Lourdes on the road to Cauterets is called "bénitier des cagots" [=holy-water stoup of the "cagots" = "agotak" in Basque]. It is probably carved out of one block and has a male figure which runs about 4/5 the height of the stoup; he stands on open legs, his hands resting on his haunches, thumbs forward, wearing a long tunic held at the waist by a narrow belt. The basin is cylindrical and plain and the upper base is a column ended in astragals at top and bottom; under the base of the column there is a square plinth (description based on Durliat, 1978, ill. 123). Victor Allègre, in his entry in the Dictionnaire des églises... (1966- ), writes that the stoup is 15th century and is called "des Cagots" wrongly. Carlsson (1976) describes this figure as "a single atlante carries the bowl"; [NB: Carlsson missed the other figure on the opposite side]. Listed and illustrated in Palissy [ref.: PM65000450]: "Pierre assez semblable à un marbre grossier. Vasque ronde, portée par un pied circulaire en forme de fût court, qui repose sur une base formée de deux tores superposés ; la séparation entre la vasque et son pied est marquée par un boudin formant astragale. Le fût est flanqué de deux personnages qui supportent la vasque sur leur nuque et son debout sur le tore inférieur de la base. Les deux personnages ont les mains sur les hanches et le buste projeté en avant, dans l'attitude d'un homme qui porte un faix [...] 15e siècle (?) [...] Le bénitier provient de l'ancienne église paroissiale, vendue comme bien national après 1790." Studied and illustrated in Salvan-Guillotin (1996), who groups it with those at the parish churches of Pierrefitte-Nestalas and Ilhet, and makes reference to other stoups and fonts (Arles, Saint-Malo, Perros-Guirec, Fidenza, Torcello) that have similar atlante or 'strong man' motifs on them. Salvan-Guillotin (ibid.) identifies the stone as grey marble and dates the object to the early-13th century. On-site notes: there are actually two such figures on this stoup, at opposite ends, and almost identical in appearence; our impression is that this stoup could fit an earlier date, probably a late-12th century, or early13th century, but it is usually dated 15th-century. The stoup itself is very short, a mere 60 cm, which would make it a good candidate for the "cagots" type of stoup; it is now raised on a square stone which adds another 27 cms to its height, probably for display and functional purposes.

COORDINATES

Church Latitude & Longitude Decimal: 42.980556, -0.089444
Church Latitude & Longitude DMS: 42° 58′ 50″ N, 0° 5′ 22″ W
UTM: 30T 737188 4762870

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Material: stone, granite? / marble?
Number of Pieces: one
Font Shape: cylindrical (mounted)
Basin Interior Shape: round
Basin Exterior Shape: round
Rim Thickness: 3-4 cm*
Diameter (inside rim): 30-31 cm*
Diameter (includes rim): 37-38 cm* / 36 cm** / 36 cm***
Basin Depth: 12 cm* / 11.5 cm***
Basin Total Height: 20 cm* / 21.5 cm***
Height of Base: 40 cm*
Height of Central Column: 24 cm***
Font Height (less Plinth): 60 cm* / 61 cm** / 61 cm***
Font Height (with Plinth): 87 cm*
Notes on Measurements: * BSI on-site / ** Palissy [ref.: PM65000450] / *** Savan-Guillotin (1996)

REFERENCES

Dictionnaire des églises de France, Belgique, Luxembourg, Suisse, Paris: R. Laffont, 1966-
Carlsson, Frans, The Iconology of Tectonics in Romanesque Art, Hässleholm: AM-Tryck, 1976
Chastel, André, Histoire générale des Églises de France, Belgique, Luxembourg, Suisse, France: Robert Laffont, 1966
Durliat, Marcel, Pyrénées romanes, La Pierre-qui-vire, Yonne: Zodiaque, 1978
Enlart, Camille, Manuel d'archéologie française depuis les temps mérovingiens jusqu'à la Renaissance, Paris: Alphonse Picard & fils, 1902
Ruprich-Robert, V., "Bénitiers et fonts baptismaux du Moyen-âge et de la Renaissance", II (1855), Revue générale de l'architecture et des travaux publics, pp. 289-290, Pl. XXVI; r["References"]