Vielha No. 1 / Viella

Enlart (1902) mentions a 13th-century font in Viella referring to this font. Durliat (1978) states that this font may come from the same source as the Romanesque Christ kept in the Viella church. Two articles in Catalunya romànica (1984- ), on this font: the first emphasises the dexterity and accuracy of the carving on this font, in contrast with the more crude and rudimentary level found in most other fonts in the valley; the second article states that the two pieces of the base do not belong to the original font and goes on to ellaborate about the style of the ornamentation; with respect to the dating, the second article cites Sarrate i Forga's El arte romànico en el Mig-Aran (Lleida, 1975) as source for a chronology dating it to the 12th century, though the author states a preference for a later dating, the first half of the 13th century ["nosaltres creiem, però, que pot tractar-se d'una data més tardana [...] de la primera meitat del segle XIII"], therefore in agreement with Enlart's (1902) dating. [NB: Sarrate i Forga is keener on early dates for all the Aran fonts, especially the 'oil-fonts' which he dates to the 10th-11th century as predecessors of the Romanesque fonts such as this one]. Noted in Amiell (2007). On-site notes: the basin has a negligeable rim; below it, the side is divided into two ornamentation registers: the upper has a well-drawn vegetal vine/garland; the lower has intersecting round arches; the bottom edge of the basin is decorated with large protruding ball motif. The stem of the base is a plain cylindrical column and the plinth is circular and plain as well.