Utrecht No. 3

The present baptismal font in use was made of sandstone in 1978 by Taeke Friso de Jon; it has two main scenes on its sides: one from the Old Testament, the arrival of the Israelites into the Promised land, the other from the New Testament, the Baptism of Christ in the river Jordan. It replaced an earlier font.
A communication to BSI by Pol Herman (e-mail of 11 November 2025) notes: "The font that was used in the Domkerk at Utrecht for the baptisms of the Dutch princes Johan Friso, Constantijn and Bernhard has no relation with that church. It is the Bentheimer-type font “from the Saint-Jacob’s church at Winterswijk”. It is objectnumber ABM bs610 of the Museum Catherijneconvent at Utrecht. 20180UTR The museum had only loaned the baptismal font for the duration of these baptisms. An identical modern copy of this font now stands in the church of Winterswijk.]
Pol Herman's communication further notes: "The collegiate Saint-Martin’s Domkerk at Utrecht never had a baptismal font. It was never a catholic parish church. Rituals leading up to baptism could be done in the Domkerk, but the baptismal sacrament could originally only be performed in the adjacent “oratorium or chapel of the Holy Cross”, where the only font of the city stood. [https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heilig_Kruiskapel_(Utrecht). At an unknown date, the “very old” stone baptismal font was moved from the Holy Cross chapel to the also adjacent Saint-Salvatorchurch (also called Oudmunster). [https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sint-Salvatorkerk_(Utrecht)
When the Saint-Salvatorchurch was demolished in 1587, Johan Mersman made a description of the church and mentioned a very old stone font. It was carved from a single block of stone and was covered with a wooden lid that could be locked. There was “sculptura” on the font. In the 11th century, 3 new churches were built (Saint-Peter 23747UTR, Saint-John-the-Baptist, Our Lady). They were collegiate and did not acquire parish status. As long as they were catholic, none of these churches had a baptismal font. The annexed document describes the complex rituals that emerged from this situation. The following churches in Utrecht had parochial rights and a baptismal font:
Buurkerk (ecclesia civilium or ecclesia civilis; probably 10th c.), font destroyed in 1566. Nicolaïkerk (12th c.), The first time the baptismal font is documented in 1437. The churchwarden justifies an expense for the construction of a pan for the baptismal font, probably the font was no longer watertight. In 1441, the parish ordered a new stone baptismal font from the architect of the cathedral, Mr. Heynrick van Bontsfort. In 1467, the baptismal font was moved to the new baptistery. The font was damaged in 1566 and was replaced in 1579 by a simple metal bowl on a wooden support. Jacobikerk (12th c.) Geertekerk (13th c.) 24447UTR".
A communication of 16 November 2025 further adds: "The historical reality about baptism/baptismal font in collegiate churches is not as clear cut as the theory (and the ecclesiastical rules) would lead us to believe. For example: when studying the history of the Romanesque Tournai-type font of the Saint-Martin’s church of Kortrijk/Courtrai, I discovered that the nearby collegiate church of Our Lady (adjacent to the count's castle) tried to exert baptismal rights for the families of its own lay personnel and for the count's family. It served as a parish church for them. This led to a long legal battle between the churches, and the collegiate church had to give up the baptismal font, which could from then onwards only be used for the Easter liturgy."