Moelingen / Luyk? / Luik / Moulingen

INFORMATION

Font ID: 19778MOU
Object Type: Baptismal Font1
Font Century and Period/Style: 15th - 17th century (?)
Church / Chapel Name: [Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-Tenhemelopnemingskerk Moelingen?]
Font Location in Church: [cf. FontNotes]
Church Patron Saint(s): [St. Mary the Virgin?]
Church Notes: church has a 14th-century Gothic nave and a Romanesque tower from the 12th century
Church Address: Kerkplein, 3790 Voeren, Belgium
Site Location: Limburg, Vlaanderen / Flandres, Belgium, Europe
Directions to Site: Located off the N653, in the municipality of Voeren since 1977; predominantly "Limburgs" spoken
Ecclesiastic Region: Diocese d'Hasselt
Historical Region: Graafschap Dalhem / Duchy of Brabant
Additional Comments: disused font? -- location and church not corroborated for the old refence
Font Notes:
An entry in the Jaarboek van Limburgs Geschied- en Oudheidkundliche Genootschap (vol. 5, 1868: 458), listed under the heading "Voici quelques données concernant des actes de vandalisme qui se commettent encore de nos jours dans le Limbourg aux fonts baptismaux",
notes: "A Itteren prés de Maestricht, l'ancien font baptismal sert de réservoir d'eau sous une gouttière de la cure. Le même phénomène s'observe à Moulingen, où l'ancien font gît brisé sur le cimetière. Tous les deux sont à réparer et à replacer dans les églises."
1) The entry for Moelingen in BALaT KIK-IRPA [https://balat.kikirpa.be/object/72293] [accessed 28 September 2025] lists and illustrates [cliché M049013] a font in this church: "Kerk O.L.Vrouw Hemelvaart[Moelingen] doopvont [...] hardsteen [...] Date: 1601 - 1700 [...] hoogte: 28 cm; breedte: 43 cm; diepte: 43 cm [...] Herbruikt pilasterkapiteel". The object appears square and shows one side decprated with a blind arcade, with some(?) sides unfinished. No cover present but there are two metal staples from an old cover in the upper rim.
2) The entry for Moelingen in BALaT KIK-IRPA [https://balat.kikirpa.be/object/10117394] [accessed 28 September 2025] lists and illustrates [cliché B164630] the basin of a font originally from thsi church but now in the Musée d'art religieux et d'art mosan de Liège [cat. Puraye n° 595]: "fonts baptismaux, relief[sculpture], tête humaine[ornement] Provenance: Kerk O.L.Vrouw Hemelvaart[Moelingen] [...] pierre calcaire [...] Date: 1401 - 1600 [...] hauteur: 44 cm; diamètre: 55 cm; diamètre intérieur de la cuve : 55 cm".
[NB: we are unable to confirm whether either of these is the object referred to in the 1868 source [cf. supra]]

COORDINATES

UTM: 31U 691144 5626343
Latitude & Longitude (Decimal): 50.757344, 5.710122
Latitude & Longitude (DMS): 50° 45′ 26.44″ N, 5° 42′ 36.44″ E

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Material: stone
Notes on Measurements: [cf. FontNotes]

REFERENCES

  • KIK-IRPA, BALaT KIK-IRPA, 2024. URL: https://balat.kikirpa.be/.
  • KIK-IRPA, BALaT KIK-IRPA, 2024. URL: https://balat.kikirpa.be/.