Frejus No. 2 / Fréjus
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Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Baptisteria Sacra Index, 2023
Image Source: digital image of field notes taken 13 June by BSI
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0
INFORMATION
Font ID: 02510FRE
Object Type: Baptismal Font3
Date Visited: 2001-06-13
Font Century and Period/Style: 5th - 7th century, Early Christian? / Merovingian?
Cognate Fonts: Aix-en-Provence, though probably the closest may be the one in Albenga
Church / Chapel Name: Baptistère paléo-chrétien, Cathédrale Saint-Léonce
Font Location in Church: The font is located in the centre of the baptistery
Church Patron Saint(s): St. Léonce of Fréjus
Church Notes: The baptistery has two fonts: the central sunken one in the middle of the octagon and another (?) in one of the side chapels between the columns. The cloister ceiling has unusual Apocalyptic paintings. The area is closed on Mondays. -- cathedral and baptistery listed in Mérimée [ref.: PA00081606], with dates in the 5thm 12th and 13thC
Church Address: 58 Rue de Fleury, 83600 Fréjus, France
Site Location: Var, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France, Europe
Directions to Site: Frejus can be reached from Cannes (30 kms S-W down the A8-E80 motorway or, 33 kms along the "Corniche"/N98); also from St Tropez (32 kms up the N98)
Ecclesiastic Region: Diocese of Fréjus-Toulon [formerly Diocese of Fréjus]
Historical Region: Provence
Font Notes:
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Like the font at the baptistery of Aix-en-Provence, this is described as an "example remarquable" of the baptistry-type of sunken font with raised parapet, probably dating also from about the 5th century (Chastel, 1966, p. 287). Thirion (1980, p. 158-159), after P.A. Février, has strong doubts about the date of the basin, which may have been reconstructed at different periods. He believes it was lined in marble, like many such others, and that it had a ciborium, but that there were no mosaics here. Another font, barrel-shaped and imitating the rings of a wooden one, is located in one of the side chapels or apses, under one of the surrounding arches (Malle, 1984, p. 12). A later source (Provence..., 1986, p. 89) mentions that "an octagonal font of white marble has been recently discovered". On-site notes: the sunken font has been reconstructed in the centre of the baptistry; it has a rather deep well (110 cm) and it looks somewhat crude without the revetement of marble it would have had originally; a small piece remains of one of the columns of the ciborium. Ferguson (2009) gives some measurements.
Credit and Acknowledgements: We are grateful to the Cathedral guide and authorities for their assistance in documenting the site
COORDINATES
UTM: 32T 316840 4811394
Latitude & Longitude (Decimal): 43.433056, 6.736944
Latitude & Longitude (DMS): 43° 25′ 59″ N, 6° 44′ 13″ E
MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS
Material: mixed (stone and brick)
Font Shape: sunken font, octagonal
Basin Interior Shape: octagonal
Basin Exterior Shape: octagonal
Drainage Notes: there appears to be no trace of the water conduits now
Rim Thickness: 38-45 cm
Diameter (inside rim): 140 cm*
Diameter (includes rim): 210-230 cm
Basin Depth: 110 cm*
Notes on Measurements: BSI *[NB: Therion (1980: 159), gives 133 cm as the diameter and 92 cm as the depth] -- [Ferguson (2009) gives an external diamter of 135 cm at the surface and a depth of 82 cm]
REFERENCES
- Dictionnaire des églises de France, Belgique, Luxembourg, Suisse, Paris: R. Laffont, 1966-, II D 77
- Les premiers monuments chrétiens de la France, Paris: A. Picard ; Ministère ce la culture et de la francophonie, Direction du patrimoine, Sous-direction de l'archéologue, 1995-1998, vol. 1: p. 155-164
- Chastel, André, Histoire générale des Églises de France, Belgique, Luxembourg, Suisse, France: Robert Laffont, 1966, p. 287
- Ferguson, Everett, Baptism in the Early Church: history, theology, and liturgy in the first five centuries, Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2009, p. 843
- Guyon, Jean, Les premiers baptistères des Gaules (IVe-VIIIe siècles), Roma: Unione Internazionale degli Istituti di Archeologia, Storia e Storia dell'Arte in Roma / Union des instituts étrangers de Rome, 2000
- Malle, Louis, Sources du baptême: découvrir les baptistères et les fonts baptismaux, Paris: Éditions de l'atelier, 1994, ill. and caption on p. 12
- Phaidon, Provence and the Côte d'Azur: a Phaidon Cultural Guide, Oxford: Phaidon Press, 1986, p. 89
- Thirion, Jacques, Alpes romanes, La Pierre-qui-vire, Yonne: Zodiaque, 1980, p. 158-159 and ill. 48