Saint-Jean-de-Sauves / St-Jean-de-Sauves

INFORMATION

FontID: 07708SAU
Church/Chapel: Eglise Saint-Clément
Church Patron Saints: St. Clement
Country Name: France
Location: Vienne, Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Directions to Site: Located in the canton de Moncontour, arrondissement de Châtellerault
Font Location in Church: Inside the church
Century and Period: 4th - 6th century -- 12th - 13th century [composite stoup?], Gallo-Roman? / Medieval?
Described and illustrated in Le Patrimoine des communes de la Vienne (2002, v. 2: 627) as a plain round holy-water stoup made of granite, and of uncertain origin; it could have been found in the Gallo-Roman site or, perhaps, ancient priory of Saint-Jean. This source (ibid.) relates a tradition attributed to its history: Cardinal Richelieu [1585-1642] had decided to transport it to the nearby village of his name, Richelieu; during the trip, however, the ox-cart broke under the weight of the stoup and the stone fell to the ground and broke; it then repair itself miraculously without anyone's intervention. Tradition has that it was then taken to Saint-Jean-de-Sauves. [NB: a number of such stories applied to baptismal fonts exists all the way from Scandinavia to Spain, with slight variations such as the means of transportation or the reason for the deviation from the intended destination] [Flohic ref. no.: 86151041]

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Material: stone, granite
Number of Pieces: one
Font Shape: round
Basin Interior Shape: round
Basin Exterior Shape: round

REFERENCES

Le Patrimoine des communes de la Vienne, Paris: FLOHIC, 2002