Reta

Described in the Catálogo Monumental de Navarra (1990?- , vol. IV*: 557-558) as a medieval baptismal font; the cylindrical basin is ornamented with a blind arcade of round arches in low-relief; the stem of the base is cylindrical and plain; the lower base has a roll moulding where it meets the stem and then splays to a square shape with a ball motif at each angle [NB: two of the sides are embeded in the north wall and therefore invisible]. Described in Domeño (1992: 173) as a Romanesque font in much the same terms. A flat wooden lid hinged about 2/3 back covers the font. Simeón Hidalgo Valencia (e-mail of 2 May 2014 to BSI) suggets the existence of a workshop in the valleys of Izagaondoa, Lizoáin, Unciti and Urraúl Bajo, which would include the fonts at Artáiz, Cemboráin, Grez, Idoate, Lérruz, Najurieta, Reta, Zuazu, and others in the area. Hidalgo Valencia (PDF article dated 21 February 2012 forwarded to BSI) writes about four Romanesque fonts in this valley of Izagaondoa: Zuazu, Idoate, Artaiz and Reta, being the latter the simplest in ornamentation; of the decorative work on this font HV states that the squeezing of the last arch at the end of the sequence of the arcade indicates the work was done without previous marking of the stone. HV notes that the present position of the font in the alcove opposite the entranceway is not the original, surely having been moved from the northwest end of the nave at some point; the internal division of the basin is also a later change, and HV advises that the inner well should be restored to its original state. A much weathered holy-water stoup has been placed in the nave, just inside the south entranceway; it is not clear whether the two parts, basin and base belong together; the base is 16th-century or later.