Saint-Michel-l'Observatoire

Described and illustrated in Barruol (1977) as a former Romanesque capital re-used as holy-water stoup. The stoup is ornamented with what Barruol describes as lions with diabolical heads on the front and human heads at the back angles; the back side of the capital is blank. Barruol (ibid.) argues that this vessel, the only one of its kind in Provence, could very well have been imported from Northern Italy, and that it is often compared to certain capitals from Serrabone. There is a font or large stoup in this church: a round, almost hemispherical basin decorated with a moulding at the upper rima, and very damaged motifs on the sides and underbowl to the xtent that it is diffcult to discern what some of the were originally; it is raised on a round pedestal base decorated only with a double moulding near the lower base. Located by the door.
Photographs of the stoup 15 August 2013 by Sébastien Thébault https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Église_Saint-Michel_de_Saint-Michel-l’Observatoire,_bénitier.JPG and https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Église_Saint-Michel_de_Saint-Michel-l’Observatoire,_bénitier_2.JPG [accessed 7 May 2025]