Ribe No. 4 / Ripen

The article 'Nyt fra den arkæologiske udgravning på Lindegaarden – brandtomten syd for Ribe Domkirke' in the 14 July 2011 issue of Sydvestjyske Museer [https://lindegaarden.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/nyhedsbrev-juli-2011.pdf] [accessed 21 November 2021] reports a fragment of dark grey limestone stone carved with the body of an animal, clearly a lion of the Romanesque period on a stone font made in a Namur workshop, in today's Belgium [cf. infra], with such fonts found in the churches at Ballum, Tønder and Højer; this fragment was dug up in a layer of burnt mattter in the grounds of Ribe cathedral, and likely therefore to have been a baptismal font of the cathedral destroyed by a fire in 1272, although the font itself is probably 12th-century, and likely the predecessor of the present bonze font ["Blandt de mere sensationelle fund kan nævnes et større fragment af en døbefont i mørkgrå kalksten. Døbefonten er udført i et værksted omkring Namur i det nuværende Belgien og har været udsmykket med dyr i højt relief. I kirkerne i Ballum, Tønder og Højer kan man se lignende døbefonte. På det fundne stykke ses bagkroppen af en løve. Det fine stenhuggerarbejde lå i et brandlag, som vi tolker som et resultat af byens brand i 1272. Selve døbefonten kan være noget ældre og stammer måske fra 1100-årene. Det er sandsynligt, at den har stået i domkirken og altså er en forgænger for den nuværende støbte bronzefont."]. Harriet suggested a possible connexion with Ribe Bishop Helias (1142-1162) (he was from Flanders). In a further communication with BSI (e-mail of 22 November 2021) Pol Herman, who supplied the above reference, commented that: "Jean-Claude Ghislain informed me today that the font at Ribe cathedral is definitely Mosan, and not Tournai. As it is Mosan, then it is from a later date, and a link to Helias seems less likely. A professor of the university of Liège has travelled to Ribe, and studied the petrography of the fragment."