Valdeosera

Described and illustrated in López de Silanes Valgañón (2000): Romanesque [?] baptismal font of the late 13th century made by a local artisan. Noted and illustrated in Sáenz Rodríguez (2004), also with a date in the late 13th century, and of a local mason. The basin is roughly hemispherical, its sides decorated with a variety of motifs among which: a swastika cross, a Latin cross, a horse with harness, saddle, stirrup and trappings, a motif that resembles a castle or fortress [or is it another cross?], and several blank shields; the base is round and very short. Described and illustrated in the Enciclopedia del románico en La Rioja (2008) where it is suggested that, altough not a characteristic example of the Cameros workshop, it is probably a variant of it. Both these sources locate the font ca. 2000 in the Museo / Casa del Solar de Valdeosera,, in San Román de Cameros, province of Logroño, which is close to the church of Valdeosera, the original location of the font. [cf. Index entry for Santo Domingo de la Calzada No. 3 for a holy-water stoup originally from this church]. [NB: the use of shields is suspicious for such early fonts, although Sáenz Rodríguez (ibid.) notes that Martínez de Aguirre & Menéndez Pidal (1996) argue that personal emblems begin to appear on artistic works in the early 13th century].