Aix-en-Provence No. 2

Results: 4 records

Click to view images and/or subjects

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 9 June 2001 by BSI

view of church interior - baptistery

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 9 June 2001 by BSI

view of font

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 9 June 2001 by BSI

view of font in context

Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 9 June 2001 by BSI

INFORMATION

FontID: 03769AIX

Church/Chapel: Cathédrale du Saint-Sauveur, Aix-en-Provence

Church Patron Saints: Our Saviour

Church Location: 34 Pl. des Martyrs de la Resistance, 13100 Aix-en-Provence, France -- Tel.: +33 4 42 23 45 65

Country Name: France

Location: Bouches-du-Rhône, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur

Directions to Site: In Aix-en-Provence, within the cathédral St-Sauveur grounds, between the cathedral itself, the cloister and another building.

Font Location in Church: South side of the western door

Century and Period: 5th century, Early Christian

Font Notes: Click to view font notes

The octagonal "cuve baptismale" itself is right at the centre of the baptistery building (this "cuve" is dated by Enlart (1902) to the 14th century, and by Corblet (1881-1882) to the 13th or 14th century. As in Frejus, there is a tub-shaped font or well under one of the arches of the baptistery. Delcor (1973) dates this font "dans ses parties anciennes" to the 4th or 5th century. On-site notes: the present remains of the sunken piscina is a brick-lined octagonal cavity of 185 x 167 cm at its widest angles and 77 cm deep. Ferguson (2009) gives slightly different measurements.

COORDINATES

Church Latitude & Longitude Decimal: 43.531944, 5.447222

Church Latitude & Longitude DMS: 43° 31′ 55″ N, 5° 26′ 50″ E

UTM: 31T 697743 4822799

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Material: brick, brick

Font Shape: octagonal (sunken)

Basin Interior Shape: octagonal

Basin Exterior Shape: octagonal

Drainage Notes: The drain holes are located on the bottom, close to one side

Diameter (inside rim): 135 cm**

Basin Depth: 77 cm [83 cm* / 77 cm*]

Trapezoidal Basin: 185 x 167 cm*

Notes on Measurements: BSI on-site / ** Ferguson (2009) gives two depths for the two different phases of the font -- he gives the outer diameter at 135 cm

REFERENCES

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

Delcor, M., "Les cuves romanes et leur figuration en Roussillon, Cerdagne et Conflent", 4, Cahiers Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa, 1973, pp. 96-109, 4 pl.; r["References"]

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

Ferguson, Everett, Baptism in the Early Church: history, theology, and liturgy in the first five centuries, Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2009

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

Phaidon, Provence and the Côte d'Azur: a Phaidon Cultural Guide, Oxford: Phaidon Press, 1986

Tyrrell-Green, E., Baptismal Fonts Classified and Illustrated, London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge: The Macmillan Co., 1928