Ardaiz / Ardaitz

Described in Uranga (1943: 163); described and illustrated in Uranga & Iñiguez (1973, vol. 5: 258 and pl. 365a); in Iraburu (1975: 86-87). Described and illustrated in the Catálogo Monumental de Navarra (19890?- , vol. IV*: 300 and fig. 193) and in Domeño (1992: 82-84, 136 and figs. 110, 111) as a medieval baptismal font [Uranga & Iñiguez and the CMdeN give the 13th century] consisting of a hemispherical basin with a thick roll moulding on the lower end; the front of the basin is ornamented with a female body with the head of an infant held in her hands and lap, as her legs bend around the torus of the basin. Although this group has been usually described as Madonna and Child (e.g., in the CMdeN and in Uranga's article), Domeño favours Iraburu's (1975: 86-87) opinion that it is really the representation of a birth, a symbolic rendering of "uterus ecclesiae, fons baptismi". The group is certainly not a classical representation of the Madonna motif, and birth scenes are recorded in other churches of the area (e.g.: a well-known corbel at Artaiz). The stem of the base is a broad cylindrical pedestal, also ending in a thick roll moulding at the bottom where it meets the square lower base adorned with ball motif at the corners. The flat wooden lid is plain and modern. No entry found for Ardaiz in the Enciclopedia del romoanico.