Colmars-les-Alpes

The destruction by fire of the baptismal font at Colmars-les-Alpes on 9 August 1672 was recorded by Mgr. Villeserin, the Bishop of Digne, and witness of the actual fire. Villeserin narrates that the fire was so terrible that even the baptismal font, made of a strong and thick stone, were reduced to cinders ["le feu avoit esté si violent que les fonts-baptismaux, qui étoyent faits d'une pierre fort dure et fort épaisse, étoyent réduits en cendres"] [source: text extracted from M.Z. Isnard's 'Récit de l'incendie de Colmars en l'Evêché de Senez le 8 Août de 1672', in the Archives Départementales de Digne, C110, transcribed by Christine Rathgeber in her 'Histoire de Colmars', in 'L'Echo des Ramparts', no. 3 (July 1999) -- http://jcfvc.chez.tiscali.fr/colmars.htm]. The replacement font is listed in Palissy [ref.: PM04001623] [https://www.pop.culture.gouv.fr/notice/palissy/PM04001623] [accessed 5 Fabrusry 2023] as a metal font of the 19th century, and illustrated in Mémoire [ref.: MHR93_04040397ZA] [https://www.pop.culture.gouv.fr/notice/memoire/MHR93_04040397ZA] [accessed 5 February 2023]: a roughly cylindrical basin with a conical top with a cross finial [NB:this new font may have been installed in the new church built after the fire].