Santa Maria de Perula / Santa María de Ayneto / Santa María de Pérula

An object reported now in the Sabiñánigo museum. and said to be originally from the rural chapel of Santa María de Pérula nearby; it appears to have been a holy-water stoup. It consists of a bucket-shaped basin crudely made and carved with five large motifs [L->R]: standing male figure wearing a loin-cloth and being stabbed (?) by two large arrow-like projectiles, possibly representing St. Sebastian; oddly-shaped motif resembling a vessel of some sort but furnished with two arm-like stensions ending in pilgrim shells; large flat human face with wings and wig-like hair; skull and bones; standing figure with hieratic clothing. mitre and staff, probably meant to be a bishop. The inner well of the basin is carved with concave ribs, again, a very crude work; at the bottom of the basin runs a rope moulding. Although the shape of the vessel and the carving are reminiscent of some of the early-Romanesque works of nearby Pyrenean church fonts, this must be the work of a local mason, perhaps more ambitious than skilled, and of rather a late period, the 16th or 17th century at the earliest. It is not clear whether the pedestal base was the original support of this object; it appears quadrangular and decorated with knob-like motifs.