Barcelona No. 8

Large cruciform/quatrefoil basin of a baptismal font, perhaps from the 12th or 13th century, now mounted on a much later quadrangular pedestal; the only ornamentation appears to be a set of three protrusions lower down on one of the sides; this basin may have been the cathedral font until 1433, the year when the new font made of Carrara marble by Onofre Julià was installed here [cf. Index entry for Barcelona No. 1]. The old font stands now near the souvenir shop, mounted on a later pedestal base. The old basin might also correspond to the re-building of the cathedral by Ramón Berenguer in mid-11th century, after its sacking by Almanzor [Al-Mansur], though it is more likely of a later date. Illustrated and described in Catalunya romànica (1984- , vol. XX: 173-174), where the stone of the basin is identified as Luni marble ["marbre de Luni"], possibly a recycled Roman stone from a public building of Tarragona [="procedent d'un element arquitectònic romà, molt probablement d'una gran cornisa d'algun edifici públic de Tarragona"], later hollowed out and given the outer shape it now has. This source identifies the ornamentation on the sides as originally Roman and suggests a date in the second half of the 11th century for the re-carving, whereas Ainaud (1964: 358-359) had suggested the first half of the 12th century. [We are grateful to Montserrat Estela, of www.romanicat.net, for the added photographs of this font]