Orleans / Orléans

Eugène Lefèvre-Pontalis and Eugène Jarry's La cathédrale romane d’Orléans. In: Bulletin Monumental, tome 68, année 1904. pp. 309-372 [DOI : https://doi.org/10.3406/bulmo.1904.12552] [accessed 4 November 2023] reported finding "un tambour de colonne romaine sculpté" in their archaeological excavation beneath the chancel in 1890; this drum of a Roman column, which was damaged during the retrieval, is described as a fragment of an ancient column, used without a doubt ["sans doute"] as baptismal font in the earlier churches built by Sainte-Euverte or Saint-Aignan; the sides are decorated with drapery and three human figures: a naked woman has her hair coiffed atop the head; on each side a male figure stands. The article notes that the fragment was moved to the Musée archéologique d'Orléansm salle lapidaire no. 268. [cf. ImagesArea]. Noted after Lefèvre-Pontalis and Jarry [cf. supra] in Jules de La Martinière's Les origines chrétiennes d'Orléans, In: Revue d'histoire de l'Église de France, tome 25, n°106, 1939. pp. 5-32 [DOI : https://doi.org/10.3406/rhef.1939.2875] [accessed 4 November 2023]. A more recent article by Elsa Cadier, 'Découverte : les vestiges de l'église romane sous la cathédrale d'Orléans' in franceinfo (30 May 2017) [https://france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr/centre-val-de-loire/loiret/orleans/decouverte-vestiges-eglise-romane-cathedrale-orleans-1262941.html] [accessed 4 November 2023] mentions that among the objects excavated was a large cylindrical tub, possibly Gallo-Roman, with partly decorated sides [cf. ImagesArea] that may have been used as baptismal font in the early church. [NB: we have no information on the font of the medieval church here]. The late-19th century baptismal font in this church is listed in Palissy [ref.: PM45001720]: "Font baptismaux [...] Pierre calcaire polychrome (piscine), laiton doré (couvercle), fer (consoles), chêne en partie doré (dais et statue), bronze (branches et serpents), calcaire et marbre noir (dallage). Fonts baptismaux de style néo-gothique, composés d'une piscine orctogonale à dais couronné d'une statue de saint Jean-Baptiste, s'appuyant sur sa partie supérieure contre deux consoles. La cuve polychrome est ornée d'arcatures trilobées meublées de rinceaux et porte une inscription. Le couvercle est également orné d'arcatures trilobées et de symboles du baptême. Le dais, soutenu par deux branches écotées autour desquelles s'enroulent des serpents, est découpé d'arcatures trilobées sous deux gâbles amortis de pinacles. Le dallage orctogonal accompagne l'ensemble [...] Dans le choeur de la cathédrale, chapelle Sainte-Thérèse-de-l'Enfant-Jésus, dite aussi des Fonts [...] H = 496 ; la = 147 ; pr = 118 [...] Inscription sur la cuve : JOHANES QUIDEM BAPTISAVIT AQUA VOS AUTEM BAPTISAM MINI SPIRITU SANCTO ACT. IV." In Malle (1994): font, in Late Gothic style, is octagonal with Ogee arches on each side of the basin; the base is also octagonal with various mouldings; the font is the one listed in Palissy as 19th-century. The splendid metal dome lid matches the octagonal shape of the font and has also Ogee arches on each side, under each arch a symbol: visible are (L->R) the deer, the dove of the Holy Ghost and the fish.