Julemon / Julémont

Only a B&W photograph taken ca. 1917-1918 remains of the medieval font of the Eglise Sainte-Vierge Marie de Julémont, noted and illustrated in BALaT KIK-IRPA [https://balat.kikirpa.be/object/10092140] [accessed 28 April 2024]: "fonts baptismaux [...] pierre [...] roman [,,,] Date: 1101 - 1200". The surviving photograph shows a tub-shaped basin decorated with a broad flat moulding and four human heads below the upper rim; one of the heads was broken off and lays on the ground, and part of the basin side is missing; the base of the font is a broad round pedestal totally plain; the font is partially pushed against an opening in the wall behind it. There is no cover present in the photo but one metal staple of the cover anchorings remains in the upper rim. The entry for the new church in the Belgian Wikipedia [https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heilige_Maagd_Mariakerk_(Julémont)] [accessed 28 April 2024] mentions a 12th-century baptismal font decorated with four heads in the new church ["Er is een 12e-eeuws doopvont met vier maskers"] [NB: this Wikipedia claim cannot be right: see Diacre André Debattice's letter below]. A communication to BSI from Pol Herman (e-mail of 27 February 2024) informs on several related issues: 1) includes a letter from a church officer in Julemont that states the old font is not in the new church, nor do they have any idea of its whereabouts "Van: André Debattice Verzonden: dinsdag 27 februari 2024 10:28 Aan: Pol Herman Onderwerp: RE : Fonts baptismaux romans mosans de l'église de Julémont. Bonjour Monsieur Herman, Suite à votre demande, je ne peux vous répondre que négativement, car il ne reste plus de trace de notre ancienne église. La nouvelle construction inaugurée en 1926 n’a pas récupéré des vestiges anciens. Je n’ai pas d’autre image de cet objet. Sincères salutations Diacre André Debattice" 2) "L'église primitive dédiée à Notre-Dame aurait été originairement une chapelle castrale au XIIe et au XIIIe siècle. As you can read in the answer of Mr. André Debattice, the Romanesque baptismal font of Julémont is lost. The only existing picture dates from 1917 [...] At the beginning of the first world war, invading German troops totally destroyed the village of Julémont on 18th of August 1914 [...] The font of Julémont was almost identical to the one of Clermont-sur-Berwinne, a village 12 km away [https://balat.kikirpa.be/object/10091341] They seem to be made by the same hand. I have not yet found a historical link between both churches."