Palermo No. 4

Although excluded from this Index on account of its late date, 1797, the baptismal font at the Cathedral of Palermo is very much in the tradition of earlier fonts: the panels of its octagonal basin have several biblical scenes prefigurative of baptim, as well as the Baptism of Christ in its front side; the underbowl and base are dedicated to a representation of the Temptation of Adam and Eve, another classical theme on baptismal fonts. The font is the work of Filippo Pennino and Gaetano Pennino. There is an interesting engraving of this font ca. 1840, representing the font in the midst of a baptismal service [sale advertissement posted in March 2003 -price: US$28- in www.postaprint.co.uk]. There is one other early print of this font, a drawing by W.L. Leitch, engraved by J. Sands and published by Fisher & Co. [sale advertissement posted in March 2003 -price £16- in www.antiqueprints.com]. [We are grateful to Montserrat Estela, of Barcelona, Spain, for the photographs of this font]