Castello d'Empuries / Castelló d'Empúries / Castillo de Ampurias

Photograph and Permission received (letter of December 1999)

Results: 13 records

Click to view images and/or subjects

design element - architectural - arcade - blind - round arches - columns with capitals

Scene Description: Described in Pujol i Canelles (1997: 148) as Lombardic arcade -- the arcade around the large basin has columns with foliated capitals and simple bases; the arches on the smaller basin have similar capitals but no bases at all

Image Source: edited detail of a digital photograph taken 30 April 2016 by Montse Rota

Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received via Mikel Unanue (e-mail of 27 July 2016)

view of church exterior - west portal - detail

Image Source: digital photograph taken 14 May 2005 by Enfo [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:048_Santa_Maria_de_Castelló_d'Empúries.JPG] [accessed 28 July 2016]

Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-3.0

view of church exterior - west view

Image Source: digital photograph taken 17 September 2011 by Albert Sarola Juanola [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Castelló_d'Empúries_-_Església_de_Santa_Maria.jpg] [accessed 28 July 2016]

Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-3.0-ES

view of church exterior in context - north view

Scene Description: Source caption: "Castelló d'Empúries, Santa Maria i plaça Joan Alzina"

Image Source: digital photograph taken 29 May 2011 by jordi domènech [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Plaça_Joan_Alzina_de_Castelló_d'Empúries.jpg] [accessed 28 July 2016]

Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-3.0

view of church interior - nave - looking east

Image Source: digital photograph taken 16 March 2013 by Alberto-g-rovi [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Interior_de_la_basilica_de_santa_maria-2014.JPG] [accessed 28 July 2016]

Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-3.0

view of church interior - nave - looking west

Image Source: digital photograph taken 16 March 2013 by Alberto-g-rovi [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Interior_de_la_basilica_de_santa_maria-castello_d'empuries-2013_(2).JPG] [accessed 28 July 2016]

Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-3.0

view of cover - detail

Scene Description: an interesting confluence of stone, wood, leather and metal

Image Source: edited detail of a digital photograph taken 30 April 2016 by Montse Rota

Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received via Mikel Unanue (e-mail of 27 July 2016)

view of font and cover

Image Source: digital photograph taken by Cristina Abril 26 February 2011

Copyright Instructions: Image and permission receivied via Mikel Unanue

view of font and cover

Image Source: digital photograph taken 30 April 2016 by Montse Rota

Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received via Mikel Unanue (e-mail of 27 July 2016)

view of font and cover

Image Source: digital photograph taken 30 April 2016 by Montse Rota

Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received via Mikel Unanue (e-mail of 27 July 2016)

view of font and cover

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 7 November 1999 by Brian & Nuria Catlos for BSI

Copyright Instructions: Photograph and Permission received (letter of December 1999)

view of font and cover in context

Image Source: digital photograph taken in 2003 by Andrés Ortega [www.romanicoennavarra.info]

Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received (e-mail 22/9/2003)

view of font and cover in context

Image Source: digital photograph taken 30 April 2016 by Montse Rota

Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received via Mikel Unanue (e-mail of 27 July 2016)

INFORMATION

FontID: 02115CAS

Church/Chapel: Basílica de Santa María de Castellón de Ampurias [aka Catedral del Empordà / Catedral de Santa Maria de Castelló d'Empuries]

Church Patron Saints: St. Mary the Virgin

Church Location: Pl. Mossèn Cinto Verdaguer, 1. Castelló d'Empúries, Spain

Country Name: Spain

Location: Gerona / Girona, Cataluña / Catalunya

Directions to Site: Located about 10 km E of Figueres, just N of the C-260 -- the church is located in the 'barrio del Puig Salnes', old centre in Castelló d'Empúries

Ecclesiastic Region: Diócesis de Gerona

Historical Region: Alto Ampurdán / Alt Empordà

Font Location in Church: Inside the church

Century and Period: 11th - 12th century, Romanesque

Workshop/Group/Artisan: double font

Credit and Acknowledgements: We are grateful to Brian & Nuria Catlos, Montserrat Estela, Cristina Abril, Andrés Ortega and Montse Rota for their images of, and additional information about, this font

Church Notes: Romanesque church here documented 1007, consecrated 1064; re-built in Catalan Gothic mid-13thC+; main portal completed 15thC; modified 17th and 18thC

Font Notes: Click to view font notes

Remarkable [being a Spanish double-font] monolithic baptismal font, dated to the 11th century in the church's handout and several other sources; it consists of two basins that have been carved out of a single block of stone; the larger basin is 140 cm in diameter and 112 cm in height; it has a blind arcade decoration in its upper part, near the rim; the second basin is, like the larger one, hemispheric in shape with a cylindrical prolongation at the upper part, and mesures 78 cm in diameter and 65 cm in height; like the larger basin, it has a blind arcade motif near the rim as well. The font rests directly on the gound. The second basin looks, unlike the tiny one of the Youlgreave font in Derbyshire, England [cf. Index entry], like a fully functional baptismal receptacle, more like those 16th and 17th examples found in France. The church's brochure claims that on the 18 of February, 1417, more than 100 converts from Judaism were baptized in this font. Illustrated and briefly referred to in Delcor (1973). Pujol i Canelles (1997) describes the ornamentation as "franja d'arcs lombards propis del segle XI" and states that the large basin was used for adult baptizands while the smaller one was for children; he also includes a copy of the notary protocol which descrbes the baptism of Jewish converts in the village. Described and illustrated in Badia i Homs (1978-) and (2007), who repeats the claim that the small basin was used for the baptism of children and the large one for adults; B. i H. points out that the two basins communicate internally allowing the water of the large one to overflow into the small one; he suggests dating the font to ca. 1064, the date of the original church. Described and illustrated in Catalunya romànica (1984- , vol. IX: 445-446) in similar terms.

COORDINATES

Church Latitude & Longitude Decimal: 42.259509, 3.07586

Church Latitude & Longitude DMS: 42° 15′ 34.23″ N, 3° 4′ 33.1″ E

UTM: 31T 506257 4678593

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Material: stone, limestone (grey)

Number of Pieces: one

Font Shape: cauldron-shaped (unmounted) (double font)

Basin Interior Shape: round (both)

Basin Exterior Shape: round (both)

Rim Thickness: 8 cm (basin1)

Diameter (inside rim): 140 cm (basin1); 78 cm (basin2)

Diameter (includes rim): 155 cm (basin1); 90 cm (basin2)

Basin Total Height: 112 cm (basin1); 65 cm (basin2))

Font Height (less Plinth): 112 cm (basin1) - 65 (basin2)

Notes on Measurements: Measurements provided by Brian and Nuria Catlos; corroborated by Montserrat Estela [Catalunya rom.. And Badia-Homs give: height1: 120; height2: 60; basin1 diameter: 148; bsin2 diameter: 92; thickness of the walls in both basins: 12 cm]

LID INFORMATION

Material: wood,

Notes: Both basins have flat wooden covers; the leather covers of the lids were provided in 1573 (a/p Montserrat Estela's information)

REFERENCES

Badia i Homs, Joan, [1978]

Badia-Homs, Joan, "Les piques baptismals romàniques de l'Empordà", 21 (agost-setembre 2007), Taüll, 2007, pp. 7-9; r["References"]

Bilbao López, Garbiñe, Iconografía de las pilas bautismales del románico castellano: Burgos y Palencia, Burgos: Editorial La Olmeda, S.L., 1996

Carbonell i Esteller, Eduard, Art romànic a Catalunya, segle XII, Barcelona: Edicions 62, 1974-1975

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"]

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

Pujol i Canelles, Miquel, Conversió dels jueus de Castelló d'Empúries, La, Castelló d'Empúries: Ajuntament de Castelló d'Empúries, 1997