Saint-Nicolas en Glain / Sint-Nicolêye

Noted and illustrated in Ghislain (1986) as a limestone baptismal font of the Mosan-namurois group; the basin is decorated with four protruding heads at 90-degree angles; at least one of the heads is wearing a low mitre similar to the ones found on the sister fonts at Gerpinnes, Rutten/Russon, etc.; between the heads is a running arcade of four round arches on each side. Ghislain (ibid.) dates the font to the consecration of the Benedictin priory at Glain, i.e., ca. 1151 [NB: the caption under Ghislain's illustration of this font gives the location as the Musée d'Art réligieux et d'Art mosan]. Catalogued and illustrated in Ghislain (2009) as a baptismal font of the Namurois group, filiation de Saint-Séverin-en-Condroz, made of limestone (calcaire de Meuse) ca. 1151. The basin was designed to rest on a five-column base, but it has been lost. Interestingly the arcade that runs around the four sides between the heads appears to be like the one on the font at Rutten [cf. Index entry], which has the peculiarity of having three arches on some of the sides, four arches on others, as does the arcade on the Glain font; they also have in common that one of the heads wears a low mitre, though the style of the faces is different. there are drilled holes in the upper rim of the basin, but no cover present. Noted and illustrated in Images et histoires des patrimoines numérisés [http://www.numeriques.be/index.php?id=6&no_cache=1&tx_portailnumeriques_pi1[view]=item_detail&tx_portailnumeriques_pi1[id]=peps%3AMAR-GC-REL-02a-1937-30324&tx_portailnumeriques_pi1[num]=2] [accessed 18 October 2021]