Batenburg

A newspaper article of the journal De Prins der Geïllustreerde Bladen (abbreviated as De Prins), dated 18th of July 1914, informs [translated text]: An ancient baptismal font with a most remarkable history. - The baptismal font, pictured above, now back in use in the Dutch Reformed Church in Batenburg, was smashed to pieces in 1566 by some persons in revenge for the religious persecution. - Recently, the churchwarden J.F. Peinert noticed on a sidewalk a large piece of stone with a figure that closely resembled the figures of a baptismal font in one of the neighbouring village churches; during the excavation, which was authorized by the owner, the baptismal font did in fact appear, in pieces, but almost in its entirety. - The missing piece was sought and found; it hung from the tower clock as a counter-weight. The whole was restored by skilled hands, and it has already been used several times at solemn baptisms. Baptismal font listed with measurements and a drawing in Ligtenberg (1915); it consists of a round basin with four protruding human heads at 90-degree angles, and a blind arcade of round arches supported on columns with capitals and bases around the sides of the basin, four arches per side, with foliage motifs in the spandrels; raised on a broad central shaft with four outer colonnettes, and a square moulded lower base decorated with floral (?) motifs at the angles; the whole of the base could be a modern replacement, and the basin has been restored and looks re-tooled as well. There is no font cover present now, but the upper rim had anchoring holes from an old cover; they have been re-tooled and are no longer visible. The font was located in 1983 at the east end of the church, by the pulpit [cf. ImagesArea], as it is common in the churches of this area. [NB: a communication from Pol Herman to BSI (e-mail of 24 January 2022) informs that the font was moved to a museum in 2016: relebant sources : Jaarverslag 2016, Rijksmuseum voor Oudheden, Annex VII, Acquisitions. Also in the Museum web site: "e 2016/8.1 Stenen doopvont uit Batenburg, schenking dhr. L. van der Vaart"