Poitiers No. 1

Mentioned in Enlart (1902) as a baptistery in which survive vestiges of the water channelling system. Described and illustrated in Bond (1908) as "the most remarkable" of the baptisteries of the south of France, "the piscina of which has lately been discovered." Davies (1962) points out that the survival of this baptistery owes a lot probably to its distance from the cathedral, which allow it to survive the expansion of the cathedral building. Delpal (1985) describes the building as "a vast rectangular hall and two vestries" and the inside as "disposed around an octagonal pool for baptism by immersion"; the water is fed into it "by a Roman aqueduct" and the dividing walls being ornamented with "the peacock [...] a Christ in Majesty and four Imperial Horsemen" (France: a Phaidon Cultural guide, 1985, p. 528). Corblet relates the contradictory theories regarding its origins, but states that with the restoration works carried out under the direction of Joly-Leterme, "architecte des monuments historiques", there can be no doubt about the function of the building: the conduits which fed the water to it were unearthed exposing the filling and drainage systems of the basin [cf. entry for Poitiers No. 2 in this Index for details of the basin]. Corblet (1881-1882) states that the most likely date for this baptistery is between the 5th and 7th centuries and gives details of some of the imagery which can be found in it: fish carvings on one of the capitals of the large columns, plus frescoes depicting a Christ-in-Majesty, a book in his left hand while the right is raised in benediction, with two angels pointing to heavens with one hand and to Christ with the other. Delpal (1985) mentions also an Ascension, a peacock and four Imperial Horsemen depicted on the walls. Delcor (1973) dates the baptistery to the 6th century.