Bianya No. 2 / Sant Salvador de Bianya

Described and illustrated in Catalunya romànica (1984- ): marble holy-water stoup of the late 12th century showing external, rather than local, influence in its decoration; the basin is roughly bucket-shaped but slightly rounded, with a roll moulding at the bottom where it meets the plain cylindrical stem of the base; the sides of the basin are ornamented at three levels: at the centre, and occupying most of the basin sides, is a band of linked circles resembling braided twigs; inside the circles are leaf motifs, some of them palmettes; the upper spandrels created by the linked circles are populated with leaf motifs; the lower part of the basin, that which corresponds to the underbowl, has a scene involving three biengs: two fabulous animals, perhaps dragons, devouring a grotesque human head; the mouth of this head is actually the side drain of the basin. [cf. Index entry for Bianya No. 1 for a well-rendered Romanesque font in the same church]