Saint-Marcouf

Results: 8 records

Click to view images and/or subjects

design element - motifs - leaf - laurel

Scene Description: Overlapping laurel leaves on the base a/p Vivier-Seguin's description

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 18 June 2000 by BSI

view of church exterior - cross - detail

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 18 June 2000 by BSI

view of church exterior - west portal

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 18 June 2000 by BSI

view of church exterior - west portal - detail

Scene Description: left spandrel

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 18 June 2000 by BSI

view of church exterior - west portal - detail

Scene Description: right spandrel

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 18 June 2000 by BSI

view of church exterior - west view

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 18 June 2000 by BSI

view of font

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 18 June 2000 by BSI

view of font

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 18 June 2000 by BSI

INFORMATION

FontID: 02989MAR

Church/Chapel: Eglise paroissiale Saint-Marchouf de Saint-Marcouf

Church Patron Saints: St. Marcoult [aka Marcou. Marcouf, Marcoul, Marculf, Marculfus]

Church Location: Chem. des Azes, 50310 Saint-Marcouf, France

Country Name: France

Location: Manche, Normandie

Directions to Site: St-Marcouf, a.k.a. St-Marcouf-de-l'Isle (but not the Iles St-Marcouf), is located off the D14, just N of Utah Beach, between Foucarville and Montebourg, both with fonts listed.

Font Location in Church: Inside the church, SW corner

Century and Period: 12th - 13th century, Romanesque

Cognate Fonts: Lamballe, Graville, etc.

Church Notes: church listed in Mérimée [ref.: PA00110589]: "Création d'un monastère au 6e siècle par l'abbé Marcouf. En 905, l'établissement est saccagé par les Scandinaves. Vers 1093, l'abbaye de Cerisy rétablit un prieuré. L'église romane se dresse sur une crypte couverte d'une voûte d'arêtes soutenue par huit colonnes. Le bâtiment actuel conserve plusieurs éléments de la construction primitive (opus spicatum, baies, modillons). Percements et ouvertures datent du 13e siècle. Voûtes du choeur et de la nef du 15e siècle. Au 18e siècle, ajout d'une chapelle."

Font Notes: Click to view font notes

Baptismal font listed in Palissy [ref.: PM50011896]: "Fonts baptismaux (ancienne cuve baptismale avec trou d'écoulement) [...] Manque le fût [...] H = 45 ; d = 63 [...] Déposée sous la chaire"; additional comment in the Palissy entry: "Cuve d'époque romane ou médiévale ou remploi d'un ancien chapiteau pré-roman ?" On-site notes: some earlier sources are contradictory (see Enlart and Renault's descriptions vs. the ones from V-S. below); unless there is another font of the characteristics given by Renault and Enlart in the crypt, we only found a font meeting the exact description given by V-S.: a somewhat shallow square basin has a protruding square rim; the base is a broad cylindrical column covered in leaf motif pattern; the lower base is also round. Listed by Enlart as a 11th-12th century Tournai-like square font with five columns in the base (Enlart, 1902), although Vivier-Seguin show a font which has a thin flat table-top basin and a broad column as base. It is the base which Vivier-Seguin mention as the most interesting aspect of this font: a fragment of limestone column, the lower part of which is ornamented with overlapping laurel leaves and a round base (Vivier, 1941). Enlart's error in describing the base is also found in Renault, who gives it several colonnettes in the base as well (unless there is indeed a second font hidden in the crypt or the base has been changed).

COORDINATES

Church Latitude & Longitude Decimal: 49.473158, -1.289284

Church Latitude & Longitude DMS: 49° 28′ 23.37″ N, 1° 17′ 21.42″ W

UTM: 30U 623934 5481463

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Material: stone, limestone

Number of Pieces: three

Font Shape: square (mounted)

Basin Interior Shape: square

Basin Exterior Shape: square

Drainage Notes: no lining

Rim Thickness: 12-16 cm*

Diameter (inside rim): 63 x 66 cm* / 63 cm**

Basin Depth: 20 cm*

Basin Total Height: 34 cm*

Height of Base: 45 cm* / **

Basin Upper Panel Dimensions: 7 cm* (height of rim)

Basin Lower Panel Dimensions: 27 cm* (height or rest of basin panel)

Font Height (less Plinth): 80 cm*

Font Height (with Plinth): 98 cm*

Trapezoidal Basin: 92 x 94 cm*

Notes on Measurements: * BSI / ** Palissy [cf. FontNotes]

LID INFORMATION

Date: modern

Material: wood,

Notes: Old metal plugs for hinges are still evident on the upper rim of the basin.

REFERENCES

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

France, Ministère de la culture, Inventaire Général, Palissy (France, Ministère de la culture), France, Ministère de la culture. Accessed: 2025-03-07 00:00:00. URL: http://www.culture.fr/public/mistral/palissy.

Vivier, Em., Les Anciens fonts baptismaux du Département de la Manche, Avranches: Presses de "L'Opinion de la Manche", 1941