Zandio

Described and illustrated in the Catálogo Monumental de Navarra (1990?- , vol. V**: 396 and pl. 400) with dating to the 16th century; described in Domeño (1992: 184) as a medieval baptismal font. The hemispherical basin is ornamented with a row of round arches -windows, really- each of which inscribes a motif or symbol. These appear as follows [L->R]: 1)reversed crescent over star; 2)chrismon; 3)solar wheel with six-petal floral motif in its centre; 4)crosslet Latin cross; 5)plant or fleur-de-lis or Tree of life?: a stalk with two pairs of thin lanceolated leaves [NB: there may be more arches at the back but the basin is placed against a corner and none of the sources list the back motifs either]; the spandrels of these arches have smaller partial arches, also round, linking them. The stem of the base is made of two plain cylindrical blocks, one on top of the other; the lower base appears round but is almost totally hidden in the present flooring planks. A ca. 1943 photograph shows a plain wooden lid covering the basin. The entry in Claustro [http://www.claustro.com/Crismones/Webpages/Navarra/CrismonFicha_Zandio.htm] [accessed 2 March 2023] describes and illustrates a chrismon on the font: "En relieve, en la copa de la pila bautismal. Circular, trinitario, de seis brazos de listel y aro marco de grueso listel. La única letra que cuelga del aspa (X) parece ser el Alfa, la cual no tiene puente. Si es así, se habría perdido la Omega y ambas letras estarían permutadas. La P está invertida y su vano tiene forma de U tumbada y achatada. La S está invertida y pisada por su brazo. La inversión de la S y la P, y la presunta permuta del Alfa y el Omega hace que estemos ante un crismón especular, al igual que el de Bergua en Huesca, sin que ello implique ningún tipo de relación entre ambas piezas […] s.XVI"