Perpignan No. 1 / Perpinyà

Results: 27 records

Click to view images and/or subjects

design element - architectural - arch

Scene Description: or piping; forked

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 21 June 2001 by BSI

design element - motifs - circle

Scene Description: it could be an unfinished rosette

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 21 June 2001 by BSI

design element - motifs - floral - rosette - 4 petals

Several of them on the side of the basin; one over and another under the figure as well -- notice the lead plug in the upper rim, just above the figure; there is another at the opposite end (?) of the rim, evidence of anchorings for an old cover

Scene Description: Several of them on the side of the basin; one over and another under the figure as well -- notice the lead plug in the upper rim, just above the figure; there is another at the opposite end (?) of the rim, evidence of anchorings for an old cover

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 21 June 2001 by BSI

design element - motifs - floral or foliage

Scene Description: below the rope moulding: with scrolled tendrils; upside down?

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 21 June 2001 by BSI

design element - motifs - moulding - parallel

Scene Description: around the lower basin side

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 21 June 2001 by BSI

design element - motifs - rope moulding

Scene Description: about 2/3 down, all around the basin

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 21 June 2001 by BSI

design element - patterns - fluted

Scene Description: all around the vat-like basin -- notice the damage to the rim side, probably related to an old cover anchorings

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 21 June 2001 by BSI

human figure - standing - with book

On the south side of the basin [NB: Ponsich identifies this figure as Christ]; the book is not really held by the figure but, rather, it makes up his chest

Scene Description: On the south side of the basin [NB: Ponsich identifies this figure as Christ]; the book is not really held by the figure but, rather, it makes up his chest

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 21 June 2001 by BSI

information

Image Source: field notes taken 21 June 2001 by BSI

Copyright Instructions: NOT FOR PUBLIC USE

information

Image Source: field notes taken 21 June 2001 by BSI

Copyright Instructions: NOT FOR PUBLIC USE

inscription

Image Source: Corblet (1881: v. 2, 135)

Copyright Instructions: PD

inscription - detail

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 21 June 2001 by BSI

inscription - partial view

Scene Description: notice the lead plug fit into the rim; there is another one at the opposite end (?), right above the little figure

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 21 June 2001 by BSI

inscription - partial view

Scene Description: [cf. Inscription area]

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 21 June 2001 by BSI

inscription - partial view

Scene Description: [cf. Inscription area]

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 21 June 2001 by BSI

view of basin - detail

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 21 June 2001 by BSI

view of basin - detail

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 21 June 2001 by BSI

view of basin - interior - detail

Scene Description: Smooth, almost vertical walls

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 21 June 2001 by BSI

view of basin's top - detail

Scene Description: Showing the anchorage for the old font cover

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 21 June 2001 by BSI

view of church exterior - bell-cote

Scene Description: on the west side

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 21 June 2001 by BSI

view of church exterior - south view - detail

Image Source: digital photograph taken 19 September 2011 by Enfo [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Catedral_de_Perpinyà,_façana_sud.jpg] [accessed 16 February 2014]

Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-3.0

view of church exterior - west façade

Scene Description: the main entrance on place Gambetta

Image Source: digital photograph taken 22 June 2010 by Henri Moreau [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:088_Perpignan_Cathédrale_Saint-Jean.JPG] [accessed 16 February 2014]

Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-3.0

view of church exterior - west porch

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 21 June 2001 by BSI

view of church exterior - west tower - detail

Scene Description: the top of the clock tower

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 21 June 2001 by BSI

view of church exterior in context

Scene Description: the west view of the cathedral

Image Source: digital photograph taken 21 May 2007 by Florent Pécassou [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Perpignancathedralestjean.jpg] [accessed 16 February 2014]

Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-3.0

view of church interior - nave - looking east

Image Source: digital photograph taken 19 September 2011 by Enfo [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Catedral_de_Perpinyà,_nau_i_presbiteri.jpg] [accessed 16 February 2014]

Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-3.0

view of font - south view

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 21 June 2001 by BSI

INFORMATION

FontID: 02514PER

Object Type: Baptismal Font1

Church/Chapel: Cathédrale Saint-Jean [said to be originally from Malloles]

Church Patron Saints: St. John

Church Location: 1 rue de l'Horloge, 66000 Perpignan, France ‎-- Tel.: +33 4 68 51 33 72

Country Name: France

Location: Pyrénées-Orientales, Occitanie

Directions to Site: On the Atlantic coast, just N of the Spanish border. Other large fonts just 12 kms SE at Argelès; two more at Venasque and Piolenc [now missing], N of Avignon

Ecclesiastic Region: Diocèse de Perpignan-Elne [anciennement diocèse d'Elne]

Historical Region: Roussillon

Font Location in Church: In a chapel, north side, west end

Century and Period: 8th century / 11th - 12th century, Visigothic? / Romanesque?

Cognate Fonts: Other "vat" fonts at Piolenc [now missing], Venasque, etc.

Credit and Acknowledgements: We are grateful to the friendly and helpful staff at the cathedral for the facilities given us to document this font

Church Notes: Saint-Jean-le-Vieux church originally Romanesque (12th-13thC); re-built between 1324-1509. Listed in Mérimée [ref.: PA00104067]

Font Notes: Click to view

Baptismal font "sans support ... prennent la forme d'un cuvier" (Chastel, 1966). Corblet (1881-1882) illustrates both the elevation and the plant. The sides of the font have wide vertical concave fluting interrupted by a few reinforcement-like motifs and a niche containing a human figure; about 2/3 down the side there is a horizontal rope motif surrounding the whole vat-like structure; on the upper surface of the rim there is an inscription [cf. Inscription]; Corblet (ibid.) dates it to the 9th century. Enlart (1902) dates it to the 11th century. Delcor (1973) gives the old Visigothic church at the town of Malloles, to the south of Perpignan, as the likely origin of this great font, and informs that the font was first moved to the church of Saint-Jean-le-Vieux in the 15th century, and later to the present cathedral of Saint-Jean; he also states the possibility that the font and the inscription be of a different date, the former "paraissant beacoup plus ancienne que l'inscription". This latter view is also defended by Ponsich (1980), who places the font no later than the 8th century and identifies the stone as Carrara marble; he also identifies the human figure on the reinforcement-like motif as Christ coiffed with a camelaucum [camelaukion/ camelaucium], which he refers to Syrian/Greek tradition; the rectangle under the head is identified by Ponsich (ibid.) as the Divine Book [="Livre de la parole divine"]. Listed in Palissy [ref.: PM66000584]: "11e siècle [...] Cette pièce unique, vraissemblablement taillée dans un fût de colonne romaine cannelée, pourrait recevoir une datation reculée aux environs de 800 [...] Marbre de Carrare. La paroi de la cuve est ornée d'une mouluration en forme de cordage tressé et de rosettes. Apparaît également en relief la figure du Christ, au-dessous de laquelle est représenté un évangile ouvert." Illustrated in Mémoire [NUMPs: MH0080695, 66w00002]. On-site notes: this is a magnificent object, one of a kind; there is nothing like it anywhere, although there are several other early "vat-like" fonts. This huge and most striking marble vat gives the impression of having been carved out of a gigantic Roman column. As scholars have pointed out, it is very likely that the different elements (the actual object, the carvings, the inscription, its use as a baptismal font, etc.) may belong to different periods (e.g., the simplistic feet of the figure, for example, are totally out of character with the rest of the figure and are most liklely a later addition; the same is probably true of the inscription). It is in a remarkable state of repair. The font is raised on several "feet" now, but they do not seem to be original or part of the font itself. Although no lid has been kept, there is evidence of four hinges on the upper surface of the rim.

COORDINATES

Church Latitude & Longitude Decimal: 42.7006, 2.8969

Church Latitude & Longitude DMS: 42° 42′ 2.16″ N, 2° 53′ 48.84″ E

UTM: 31T 491556 4727573

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Material: stone, marble (Carrara) (white)

Number of Pieces: one

Font Shape: round (unmounted) -- vat-shaped

Basin Interior Shape: round

Basin Exterior Shape: round

Drainage Notes: no lining

Rim Thickness: 10-14 cm

Diameter (inside rim): 115-116 cm

Diameter (includes rim): 136-142 cm

Basin Depth: 70 cm

Height of Basin Side: 91 cm

Basin Total Height: 91 cm

Height of Base: 14 cm

Font Height (less Plinth): 91 cm

Font Height (with Plinth): 105 cm

Notes on Measurements: BSI on-site

INSCRIPTION

Inscription Language: Latin

Inscription Notes: Delcor, after De Bonnefoy, gives the second word as "ZACRA" [cf. illustration from Corblet], and the French translation as "L'eau de cette piscine sacrée étouffe le sifflement du serpent criminel" (Delcor, 1973: 99)

Inscription Location: on the upper surface of the rim

Inscription Text: "+ UNDA ZACRI FONTIS + NE[c]AT ANGVIS SIBILA SONTIS +" ["+UNDA SACRA FONTIS NECAT ANGUIS SIBILA SONTIS"]

Inscription Source: Corblet (1881-1882: v. 2, p. 135); also in Delcor (1973: 99) and Ponsich (1980: 300)

LID INFORMATION

Notes: there is, however, evidence of old hinges on the upper surface of the rim

REFERENCES

Bond, Francis, Fonts and Font Covers, London: Waterstone, 1985 c1908

Chastel, André, Histoire générale des Églises de France, Belgique, Luxembourg, Suisse, France: Robert Laffont, 1966

Corblet, Jules, Histoire dogmatique, liturgique et archéologique du sacrement de baptême, Paris: V. Palme, 1881-1882

Davies, J.G., The Architectural Setting of Baptism, London: Barrie and Rockliff, 1962

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; p. 99-100

Enlart, Camille, Manuel d'archéologie française depuis les temps mérovingiens jusqu'à la Renaissance, Paris: Alphonse Picard & fils, 1902

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

Lasteyrie du Saillant, Robert Charles, conte de, Architecture réligieuse en France à l'époque romane (2e éd., avec une bibliographie critique par Marcel Aubert), Paris: A. Picard, 1929

Mestre i Godes, Jesús, Viatge al romànic català: la Catalunya nord, Barcelona: RACC Club-Edicions 62, 2000

Ponsich, P., "Les plus anciennes sculptures médiévales du Roussillon (5-11 siécle)", 11, Cahiers Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa, 1980, pp. 293-331, 33 fig.; p. 300-302