Saint-Genis-des-Fontaines No. 2 / Saint-Génis-des-Fontaines / Sant Genis de Fontanes

Results: 14 records

Click to view images and/or subjects

animal - fabulous animal or monster - griffin - 4

Scene Description: possibly griffins

design element - motifs - palmette

Scene Description: as part of one of the motifs

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 18 June 2001 by BSI

human figure

Scene Description: though it looks looks more like a small teddy-bear

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 18 June 2001 by BSI

human figure

Scene Description: either a very stylised human figure or a geometrical motif

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 18 June 2001 by BSI

view of base

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 18 June 2001 by BSI

view of basin

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 18 June 2001 by BSI

view of basin - upper view

view of stoup

Scene Description: "Provient de l'abbaye de Sorède" [cf. FontNotes]

Image Source: digital image of a 1983 B&W photograoh in Mémoire [https://www.pop.culture.gouv.fr/notice/memoire/AP66W00735] [accessed 4 February 2024]

Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-NC-ND 4.0 = Licence Ouverte / CC-BY-SA-4.0

view of stoup

Scene Description: Source caption: "Holy water font (11th century) on a Romanesque capital in the abbey church Saint-Génis-des-Fontaines, France."

Image Source: digital photograph 5 August 2016 by Palauenc05 [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Saint_Génis_holy_water_font.jpg] [accessed 4 February 2024]

Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-4.0

view of stoup

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 18 June 2001 by BSI

view of stoup

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 18 June 2001 by BSI

view of stoup

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 18 June 2001 by BSI

INFORMATION

FontID: 01289SAI

Church/Chapel: Eglise paroissiale [ancienne abbatiale] Saint-Michel

Church Patron Saints: St. Michael [originally St. Genesius & St. Michael]

Church Location: rue Georges Clémenceau, 66740 Saint-Genis-des-Fontaines, France --Tel.: +33 4 68 89 84 33

Country Name: France

Location: Pyrénées-Orientales, Occitanie

Directions to Site: Located off the D2, S of the D618, about 10 kms E of Argelès-Plage, 17 kms N of the Spanish border

Ecclesiastic Region: Diocèse de Perpignan-Elne

Historical Region: Languedoc-Roussillon

Font Location in Church: Inside the church, to the left of the entrance (N side of W door)

Date: ca. 1160-1170?

Century and Period: 12th century [composite font?], Medieval / composite

Church Notes: monastery first recorded 819; re-built 981; enlarged and reconsecrated 1153; expanded 13thC; abbey church re-opened after the Revolution as parish church -- Celebrated lintel of the main entrance, early 11th century, "un des premiers essais de sculpture monumentale en Occident après la longue décadence de la plastique qui suivit les invasions barbares" (m. Durliat in the Dictionnaire des églises... (1966- , II C 143). The same source informs that the cloister was dismantled and sold in 1924, and is now in parts in the Louvre, at the castle of Mesnuls and the Pensylvania Mueum in Philadelphia (U.S.)

Font Notes: Click to view font notes

Delcor (1973) describes this stoup as Romanesque and as being somewhat of a riddle ("presque un rébus") with motifs which combine palmettes and one figure; its base is made up of a capital decorated with animals and a pedestal (Ibid., p. 108 and footnote 38). Durliat's entry in the Dictionnaire des églises... (1966-) mentions simply a Romanesque capital which serves as base of a holy-water stoup. Catalunya romànica (1984- , vol, XIV: 351) dates the capital to ca. 1160-1170 and identifies the stone as marble from Ceret. Listed in Palissy [ref.: PM66000827] [https://www.pop.culture.gouv.fr/notice/palissy/PM66000827] [accessed 4 February 2024]: "Bénitier [...] Marbre : taillé [...] Cuve conique supportée par un chapiteau sur une colonnette tronquée [...] H = 120 9...] 12e siècle [...] Provient de l'abbaye de Sorède". Illustrated in Mémoire [ref.: AP66W00735]. On-site notes: the stoup is made of three volumes: 1)a bucket-shaped basin ornamented with three motifs on its sides; a figure with arms and legs looks like a small teddy-bear; to its left, an odd motif which incorporatesd an upper part in which a plant is encircled and has a trunk-like base with a crescent-like shape underneath; the third motif is either a highly-stylised representation of the human figure or a geometrical motif. The next volume down is a beautiful capital ornamented with foliage and fabulous animals (griffins?). The third volume is plain round column which matches the capital in colour, texture, etc.

COORDINATES

Church Latitude & Longitude Decimal: 42.543333, 2.921944

Church Latitude & Longitude DMS: 42° 32′ 36″ N, 2° 55′ 19″ E

UTM: 31T 493591 4710108

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Material: stone, marble (marble from Ceret)

Number of Pieces: three

Font Shape: pedestal stoup

Basin Interior Shape: round

Basin Exterior Shape: round

Rim Thickness: 6-8 cm*

Diameter (inside rim): 34 cm*

Diameter (includes rim): 47-50 cm*

Basin Depth: 16 cm*

Height of Basin Side: 25 cm*

Basin Total Height: 25 cm*

Height of Base: 87 cm*

Height of Central Column: 50 cm*

Font Height (less Plinth): 112 cm* / 120 cm**

Notes on Measurements: * BSI [NB: the capital measures 37 x 34 x 34 cm and is included in the measurements above as part of the base] / ** Palissy [ref.: PM66000827]

REFERENCES

Dictionnaire des églises de France, Belgique, Luxembourg, Suisse, Paris: R. Laffont, 1966-

Delcor, M., "Cuves romanes et leur figuration en Roussillon, Cerdagne et Conflent", 1973, no. 4, Cahiers de Saint-Michel de Cuxa, 1973, pp. 96-109; r["References"]

France, Ministère de la culture, Inventaire Général, Mémoire / POP : la plateforme ouverte du patrimoine (Ministère de la culture, Inventaire Général), 2024. Accessed: 2024-02-04 00:00:00. URL: https://www.pop.culture.gouv.fr/search/mosaic?base=%5B%22Photographies%20%28M%C3%A9moire%29%22%5D.

France, Ministère de la culture, Inventaire Général, Palissy (France, Ministère de la culture), France, Ministère de la culture. Accessed: 2024-02-04 00:00:00. URL: http://www.culture.fr/public/mistral/palissy.

Fundació Enciclopèdia Catalana, Catalunya romànica, Barcelona: Fundació Enciclopèdia Catalana, 1984-