Madrid No. 2

Image copyright © Palol, 1967

PERMISSION NOT AVAILABLE -- IMAGE NOT FOR PUBLIC USE

Results: 11 records

B01: Christ - monogram - XP [chi rho] - in a circle - concentric circles

Scene Description: in the centre of the basin side; three concentric circles

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Baptisteria Sacra Index, 2023

Image Source: BSI - Photographed July 5, 2005

B02: symbol - heart [or leaf?] - in a circle - 2

Scene Description: one on each side of the chrismon

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Baptisteria Sacra Index, 2023

Image Source: BSI - Photographed July 5, 2005

B03: design element - motifs - line - vertical

Scene Description: incised on the sides

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Baptisteria Sacra Index, 2023

Image Source: BSI - Photographed July 5, 2005

BIB01: animal - fish - facing away from each other - 2

Scene Description: on the central ridge or seat

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Baptisteria Sacra Index, 2023

Image Source: BSI - Photographed July 5, 2005

BIB02: symbol?

Scene Description: two knobs? at opposite ends of the basin well, on the outer side of the two fish

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Baptisteria Sacra Index, 2023

Image Source: BSI - Photographed July 5, 2005

view of basin - interior

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Baptisteria Sacra Index, 2023

Image Source: BSI - Photographed July 5, 2005

view of basin - interior - detail

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Baptisteria Sacra Index, 2023

Image Source: BSI - Photographed July 5, 2005

view of font

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Baptisteria Sacra Index, 2023

Image Source: BSI - Photographed July 5, 2005

view of font

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Palol, 1967

Image Source: drawing from a photograph in Palol (1967)

Copyright Instructions: PERMISSION NOT AVAILABLE -- IMAGE NOT FOR PUBLIC USE

view of font - upper view

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Baptisteria Sacra Index, 2023

Image Source: BSI - Photographed July 5, 2005

view of font in context

Scene Description: as displayed in the mseum [MNA]

INFORMATION

FontID: 07735MAD
Museum and Inventory Number: Museo Arqueológico Nacional (Madrid, Spain)
Church/Chapel: [found in Santisteban del Puerto, Jaén, but believed to be orig. from Toledo]
Country Name: Spain
Location: Madrid, Comunidad de Madrid
Directions to Site: Santisteban del Puerto is located in the province of Jaén, near the border with Ciudad Real, 100 km from Jaén capital
Font Location in Church: [now in a museum] [Sala VII of the Museo Arqueologico
Century and Period: 6th - 8th century, Visigothic
Cognate Fonts: Another font. originally from Martos, Jaén, of the same style and period in this museum [Castillo Maldonado mentions a similar font from La Guardia (?)]
This font was discovered by Francisco Olivares Barragán in a place known as 'Fuente de la Peñuela', in the Cañada de Ubeda, municipality of Santisteban del Puerto. Olivares Barragán (1973) describes it as Hispano-Visigothic baptismal font [="pila bautismal hispano-visigótica"]. Described and illustrated by Vázquez de Parga (1957) as a Visigothic object ["pila"] made of marble and dated between the 6th and the eighth century; the "Visigothic" attribution corresponds to the type found in Toledo between these centuries. V. de P. (ibid.) describes the object as a crude work, prismatic in shape, wider at the top than at the bottom; the sides are ornamented with a chrismon [chi rho] inscribed in concentric circles at the centre; to either side of this are two heart-shaped motifs, also inscribed in concentric circles; to the outer sides of these, vertical incised lines. The interior of the rectangular well is described and illustrated as having a middle ridge along its centre; the outer ends of the ridge or seat are floral-like knobs; next to the lnobs, two opposed fish, each facing the know on its own side of the ridge. [NB: fish on the inside of baptismal vessels -if this is what the function of this liturgical object is- are rather rare in general, although the source -V. de P.- acknowledges other such -- cf. Index entries for other baptismal objects with fish depicted on the inside of the well at: Courseult and Dinan (Côtes-d'Armor), Carbonne and St-Aventin (Haute-Garonne), in France, as well as the one in Italy at Acerenza (Basilicata)]. This object is listed without known origin among the acquisitions made by the Museo Arqueológico Nacional (Madrid, Spain) in 1957, and of uncertain function, although V. de P. (ibid.) suggests possibly liturgic [= "posiblemente litúrgica"]. Palol (1967) states that this font is from the Visigothic period and dates probably from the 7th century [="de época claramente visigoda y probablemente del siglo VII"]. Palol (ibid.) remarks on the presence of the two fish inside the basin and compares this decoration with a similar one in the font from Martos, also originally from Jaén and now in the MAN in Madrid. [NB: the Martos font has four fish]. Noted in Castillo Maldonado (2006).

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Material: stone, marble
Number of Pieces: one
Font Shape: rectangular (unmounted)
Basin Interior Shape: rectangular
Basin Exterior Shape: rectangular
Basin Total Height: 21 cm
Font Height (less Plinth): 21 cm [23 cm in Palol (1967)]
Trapezoidal Basin: 43 x 92 cm [top] -- 70 x 30 cm [bottom]
Notes on Measurements: [the bottom measurements are 30 x 70 cm]; all measurements a/p Vázquez de Parga (1957: 61-62), except for variant in Palol (1967: 179)

INSCRIPTION

Inscription Language: Greek
Inscription Notes: In the form of the chrismon, with the X crossing the P
Inscription Location: on the side
Inscription Text: [chi rho]
Inscription Source: Vázquez de Parga (1957: 61)

REFERENCES

Castillo Maldonado, Pedro, La época visigótica en Jaén (siglos VI y VII), Jaén: Universidad de Jaén, 2006
Olivares Barragán, Francisco, "Hallazgos ibero-romanos en Santisteban del Puerto", 1973, pp. 657-660 and pl. 1-1; r["References"]
Palol, Pedro de, Arqueología cristiana de la España romana: siglos IV a VI, Madrid, Valladolid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Instituto Enrique Flórez, 1967
Vázquez de Parga, Luis, "Pila visigoda con crismón central en el frente", t. XVI, Memorias, Museos Arqueológicos Provinciales, 1955-1957, pp. 61-62 and fig. 50-51; r["References"]