Burgos No. 4

Described in Bilbao (1996). Described and illustrated in the Enciclopedia del románico en Castilla y León (2002- ) with date 1205. Described in García Guinea (2004). There is some diagreement between the different sources on the text of the inscription and the dating. Garcia Guinea (ibid.) writes that the font is dated 1187, or 1205 according to others, and that it bears the name of the priest who probably commissioned it, "Domenicus sacerdos" ["La pila [...] está fechada en 1187 o 1205, para otros, y lleva el nombre del sacerdote que la debió de encargar: DOMENICUS SACERDOS".] Bilbao (ibid.) reads Era MCCXXIII [i.e. AD 1185], whereas the Enciclopedia… (ibid.) sees Era MCCXXXXIII [i.e., AD 1205]. On-site notes: one of several medieval fonts now kept in the Museo del Retablo, Iglesia de San Esteban, in Burgos capital. The basin is is reminiscent of the one at Barbadillo de Herreros, with a broad vegetal garland on the upper side and broad ribbing below, but here the deep ribbing is on a diagonal, torsade-like; the inside of the basin is patterned in concave ribbing, as in the case of B. de H., but there are twice as many ribs in this one. The same torsade pattern of the outer basin is used on the round pedestal of the base, but not cut as deeply; the lower base is square. Metal staple marks are evident in the upper surface of the basin rim. Translation of text on the Museum caption reads: "En la era de 1233 [sic] (año 1195) Domigo Sacerdote + El pecado nacido en nosotros por origen materno ha sido lavado (quitado y completamente alejado) en esta fuente" [source: caption in the museum label. The Enciclopedia… (ibid.) has its own version of the inscription: "+ MATRIS : PECCATU[m] : NOBIS : ABORIGINA : NATV[m] : HOC : EST : ABLATV[m] : PENIT[vs] : QVOQVE : FONTE : FUGATV[m] + / ERA : m : CC : X[x]XX : III : DOMINICVS : SACERDOS", and provides its own translation. The ribbing in the inner basin is indicative of a later date in the construction of fonts, usually well into the 13th century. [cf. BSI entry for Burgos No. 12 for another medieval font said also to be originally from Eterna]