Poissy No. 1

Main image for Poissy No. 1

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the old font mounted on a 16th-century base
Scene Description: the old font mounted on a 16th-century base
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © [in the public domain]
Image Source: Montfaucon (1729-1733, vol. 2: pl. XIX-4)
Copyright Instructions: PD

INFORMATION

Font ID: 10124POI
Object Type: Baptismal Font1, fragment
Font Century and Period/Style: 12th - 13th century [fragments], Medieval
Church / Chapel Name: Église paroissiale [ancienne collégiale] Notre-Dame à Poissy
Font Location in Church: Inside the church [it was in one of the chapels of the N side, later moved to the S chapel dedicated to St. Louis]
Church Patron Saint(s): St. Mary the Virgin
Church Address: 8 Rue de l'Église, 78300 Poissy, France -- Tel.: +33 1 39 65 01 82
Site Location: Yvelines, Île-de-France, France, Europe
Directions to Site: Located in the arrondissement de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, 10-12 km N of Versailles
Ecclesiastic Region: Diocese de Versailles
Additional Comments: recycled font: badly damaged / famous person font (Louis IX, aka Saint-Louis, baptised in it on 25 April 1214) ***MUST USE*** its dust was said to have curative powers if drank mixed with a glass of water -- healing font
Font Notes:
Montfaucon (1729-1733, vol. 2: 121 and pl. XIX) mentions and illustrates the baptismal font in which St. Louis [i.e., Louis IX, king of France, 1214-1270] was baptised, still preserved in the "Église de Notre-Dame de Poissi" [i.e., Poissy]. The illustration shows a strange, late-looking object with Renaissance ornamentation that does not fit the dating of Montfaucon at all. An explanation is provided in http://catholique-versailles.cef.fr : only shapeless fragments ["des pierres informes"] remain now of the old baptismal font, mounted on 16th-century base, and placed behind a railing since 1894. This same source informs that the font has been venerated for centuries, despite the many moves through the different chapels of the collegiate church, for the healing powers attributed to it, as recorded in a cartouche which was located by the font and read [our translation of Edmond Bories version]: "Baptismal font of St. Louis de Poissy, the powder of which, when mixed in a glass of water, will heal the feverish. Although it contains no water, this font you are now looking at will miraculously calm any burning thirst [...] Wonder, o nature! The order of things is here altered: now it is the stone that has acquired the ability of water to extinguish fire." The same source informs that a stained-glass window -now disappeared- included a four-line poem dating from 1507 and placed there by Nicolas Mercier, grammarian in the Collège de Navarre [our translation]: St. Louis was a child from Poissy / and baptised in this church. / This font is still kept here / and honoured as an exquisite relic. "Saint Louis fut en enfant de Possy / Et baptisé en la presente église. / Ses fonts en sont gardés encor ici / Et honorés comme relique exquise". This font is listed in Palissy [ref.: IM78002239]: "Fonts baptismaux dits de saint Louis [...] Il est difficile de dater les fragments de pierre de ces fonts baptismaux considérés comme de véritables reliques jusqu'au 19e siècle. Leur origine, selon la tradition, remonte au baptême de Saint Louis. En 1630, il semble que ces vestiges soient recomposés dans de nouveaux fonts baptismaux élevés à la demande de Nicolas Mercier, voulant consacrer les pouvoirs miraculeux des raclures de pierres des fonts baptismaux de Saint Louis. Ils sont alors placés en hauteur sur une console, sur l'un des murs de la chapelle de Saint Louis. Une dédicace de Mercier, encore partiellement en place, accompagnait l'ensemble. Au milieu du 19e siècle, lors des importants travaux de restauration de la collégiale, les vestiges sont protégés par une grille sans doute conçue par Viollet-le-Duc." Illustrated in Mémoire [ref.: IVR11_19967800057X, IVR11_19967800058X, IVR11_19807801950Z, IVR11_19957800320XB]. There is a set of photographs taken in 2013 and 2019 by Pierre Poschadel and GFreihalter in https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Fonts_baptismaux_de_saint_Louis_-_Notre-Dame_de_Poissy [accessed 6 May 2025].
There is a later font -not separately listed in BSI on account of its late date (1714)- inside this church listed in Palissy [ref.: IM78002240] and illustrated in Mémoire [ref.: IM78002240, IVR11_19967800232X].

COORDINATES

UTM: 31U 429553 5420115
Latitude & Longitude (Decimal): 48.92995, 2.038189
Latitude & Longitude (DMS): 48° 55′ 47.82″ N, 2° 2′ 17.48″ E

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Material: stone, limestone
Number of Pieces: fragment
Drainage System: centre hole in basin

REFERENCES

  • France, Ministère de la culture, Inventaire Général, Mémoire / POP : la plateforme ouverte du patrimoine (Ministère de la culture, Inventaire Général), 2024. URL: https://www.pop.culture.gouv.fr/search/mosaic?base=%5B%22Photographies%20%28M%C3%A9moire%29%22%5D.
  • France, Ministère de la culture, Inventaire Général, Mémoire / POP : la plateforme ouverte du patrimoine (Ministère de la culture, Inventaire Général), 2024. URL: https://www.pop.culture.gouv.fr/search/mosaic?base=%5B%22Photographies%20%28M%C3%A9moire%29%22%5D.
  • France, Ministère de la culture, Inventaire Général, Mémoire / POP : la plateforme ouverte du patrimoine (Ministère de la culture, Inventaire Général), 2024. URL: https://www.pop.culture.gouv.fr/search/mosaic?base=%5B%22Photographies%20%28M%C3%A9moire%29%22%5D.
  • France, Ministère de la culture, Inventaire Général, Mémoire / POP : la plateforme ouverte du patrimoine (Ministère de la culture, Inventaire Général), 2024. URL: https://www.pop.culture.gouv.fr/search/mosaic?base=%5B%22Photographies%20%28M%C3%A9moire%29%22%5D.
  • France, Ministère de la culture, Inventaire Général, Palissy (France, Ministère de la culture), France, Ministère de la culture. URL: http://www.culture.fr/public/mistral/palissy.
  • Montfaucon, Bernard de, Les monumens de la monarchie françoise, qui comprennent l'histoire de France avec les figures de chaque règne que l'injure des temps a épargnées [...], Paris: J.-M. de Gandouin et P.-F. Giffart, 1729-1733, vol. 2: p. 121 and pl. XIX-4
  • Phaidon, France: a Phaidon cultural guide, Englewood Cliffs NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1985, p. 525