Gallinero de Rioja

Described in Sáenz Rodríguez (2004) and in the Enciclopedia del románico en La Rioja (2008) as a baptismal font of the late-12th century, probably the product of a workshop based at or near Santo Domingo de la Calzada, one that shared the general design patterns of the workshop of Oja-Tiron, though the details are distinctive; the font consists of a roughly hemispherical basin decorated with a band of vegetal motif all around the outer sides; the underbowl has a diagonal ribbed pattern, whereas the inner basin well has concave ribbed pattern; it is raised on a cylindrical stem decorated with torsade pattern, the lower base round-to-square with spurs at 90-degree angles. A metal belt now encircles the upper basin side. Sáenz Rodríguez (ibid.) informs that the font, which is now located in a chapel of the north wall of the nave, was earlier located at the west end of the nave, on the south side. Dated in both sources to the end of the 12th century. Noted and illustrated in Rioja Románica [https://www.riojaromanica.com/categorias/pilas-bautismales#] [accessed 15 November 2020]: "Es está una pila bautismal de características similares a otras realizadas en torno al taller de Santo Domingo de la Calzada a finales del siglo XII. La taza está tallada con un gallonado helicoidal y rematada por un friso vegetal. Unos tallos casi circulares encierran hojas de tres pétalos. El pie tiene un fuste entorchado sobre un plinto cuadrangular con cuatro hojas en las esquinas."