Riez No. 2

Results: 3 records

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Image Source: BSI - Photographed 2001

INFORMATION

FontID: 03636RIE

Church/Chapel: In the ancient baptistery of Riez

Church Location: 04500 Riez, France

Country Name: France

Location: Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur

Directions to Site: Riez is located 42 km S of Digne-les-Bains (D905 S, then, D953 to Riez), just E of near the Lac-de-Ste-Croix.

Font Location in Church: In the centre of the rotunda

Century and Period: 5th century, Early Christian

Cognate Fonts: Similar interior to the baptistery at Aix-en-Provence, according to Corblet

Font Notes: Click to view font notes

Corblet (1881-1882, v. 2, p. 72) reports on the excavations which unearthed a 5th-century "piscine" about 120 cm in diameter and 45 cm in depth, with its sides lined with plaques of white marble, in the ancient baptistery of Riez. [cf. entry for Riez No. 1 in this Index for available information on the baptistery building]. On-site notes: besides the building itself, all that can be seen now is the reconstructed octagonal well with bare walls. The large flood-light incrusted in the bottom of the piscina and the lack of any detail other than the bare walls of the well gives this object a rather precarious and dejected look. [NB: our gratitude to Mlle. Valéry Reynard, of the Bureau de Tourisme de Riez, for providing full access to us and for being our charming and friendly guide on our visit]

COORDINATES

Church Latitude & Longitude Decimal: 43.815833, 6.089861

Church Latitude & Longitude DMS: 43° 48′ 57″ N, 6° 5′ 23.5″ E

UTM: 32T 265957 4855535

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Material: stone, mixed (orig. marble lined)

Font Shape: octagonal (sunken)

Basin Interior Shape: octagonal

Basin Exterior Shape: octagonal

Drainage Notes: [cf. Enlart's remarks in Notes on Fonts in the entry for Riez No. 1 in this Index]

Diameter (inside rim): 125-133 cm *(120 cm)

Basin Depth: 62 cm *(45 cm)

Notes on Measurements: BSI *(Measurements as given in Corblet, 1881-1882, v. 2, p. 72)

REFERENCES

Dictionnaire des églises de France, Belgique, Luxembourg, Suisse, Paris: R. Laffont, 1966-

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

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

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