Beek nr. Bree
Image copyright © Frida Schlusmans, 2003
CC-BY-SA-4.0
Results: 7 records
view of church exterior = northeast view
Scene Description: Source caption: "Bree Kerkstraat 10 - 165741 - onroerenderfgoed"
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Frida Schlusmans, 2003
Image Source: digital photograph 6 May 2003 by Frida Schlusmans [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bree_Kerkstraat_10_-_165741_-_onroerenderfgoed.jpg] [accessed 24 May 2024]
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-4.0
view of church exterior - southwest view
Scene Description: Source caption: "Sint-Martinuskerk (Beek, Belgisch Limburg) (70786)"
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Paul Hermans, 2020
Image Source: edited detail of a digital photograph 11 May 2020 by Paul Hermans [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sint-Martinuskerk_(Beek,_Belgisch_Limburg)_(70786)_11-05-2020_13-56-45.jpg] [accessed 24 May 2024]
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-4.0
view of church interior - looking west
Scene Description: Source caption: "Sint-Martinuskerk (Beek, Belgisch Limburg) (70786)"
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Paul Hermans, 2020
Image Source: digital photograph 11 May 2020 by Paul Hermans [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sint-Martinuskerk_(Beek,_Belgisch_Limburg)_(70786)_11-05-2020_13-54-44.jpg] [accessed 24 May 2024]
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-4.0
view of font and cover in context
Scene Description: Source caption: "Sint-Martinuskerk (Beek, Belgisch Limburg) (70786)" -- showing the former late-18thC(?) holy-water stoup now used with a cover as baptismal font in the chancel
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Paul Hermans, 2020
Image Source: edited detail of a digital photograph 11 May 2020 by Paul Hermans [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sint-Martinuskerk_(Beek,_Belgisch_Limburg)_(70786)_11-05-2020_13-52-47.jpg] [accessed 24 May 2024]
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-4.0
view of church interior - looking east
Scene Description: Source caption: "Sint-Martinuskerk (Beek, Belgisch Limburg) (70786)"
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Paul Hermans, 2020
Image Source: edited detail of a digital photograph 11 May 2020 by Paul Hermans [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sint-Martinuskerk_(Beek,_Belgisch_Limburg)_(70786)_11-05-2020_13-52-47.jpg] [accessed 24 May 2024]
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-4.0
view of church exterior - southwest view - detail
![showing the fragments of the ancient [Roman?] heads built into the tower wall](/static-50478a99ec6f36a15d6234548c59f63da52304e5/others/permission_not_available.jpg)
Scene Description: showing the fragments of the ancient [Roman?] heads built into the tower wall
Image Source: digital photograph [source N/A] provided by Pol Herman
Copyright Instructions: PERMISSION NOT AVAILABLE – IMAGE NOT FOR PUBLIC USE
view of church exterior - southwest view - detail
Image Source: digital photograph [source N/A] provided by Pol Herman
Copyright Instructions: PERMISSION NOT AVAILABLE – IMAGE NOT FOR PUBLIC USE
INFORMATION
Font ID: 25513BRE
Object Type: Stoup
Object Details: fragment, Roman?
Font Date: n.d.
Font Century and Period/Style: 10th - 11th century, Pre-Romanesque
Church / Chapel Name: Parochiekerk Sint-Martinus van Beek
Font Location in Church: wall-mounted on the outer wall of the tower
Church Patron Saint(s): St. Martin of Tours
Church Notes: late-Ottonian? / pre-Romanesque? church documented ca. 1007; re-built 12thC; modified 15th-16thC; renovated 1933
Church Address: Kerkstraat 10, 3960 Bree, Belgium
Site Location: Limburg, Vlaanderen / Flandres, Belgium, Europe
Directions to Site: Located off (E) the N793, just N of Bree, 45-50 km NNE of Hasselt
Additional Comments: fragment of a font or ancient Roman remains? -- disappeared font? (the one from the medieval church here)
Font Notes:
Click to view
We have no information on the baptismal font of this medieval church. The entry for this church in BALaT KIK-IRPA list no font in it; it lists a holy-water stoup probably of the late-18th century [https://balat.kikirpa.be/object/78583] [accessed 24 May 2024]; this stoup appears provided with a cover and located in the chancel, which suggests it is being used as a baptismal font [cf. ImagesArea]. The entry for this church in the Inventaris / Vlaanderen is erfgoed [https://inventaris.onroerenderfgoed.be/erfgoedobjecten/70786] [accessed 24 May 2024] reports three primitive masks or heads built into the tower wall; they may date from the Roman period ["Even boven de begane grond, een drietal primitief bekapte maskerkoppen, mogelijk Romeins van herkomst"].
A communication to BSI from Pol Herman (e-mail of 1 May 2024) notes: "Two heads are integrated in the outer wall of its 12th century Romanesque tower. They are badly battered. Since immemorial times and until 1962 the annual custom was for the first communicants to throw stones at it. As a sign that they renounced the devil and paganism. Therefore, Jean-Claude Ghislain assumes that the heads are Roman, predating Christianisation. Also, the heads seem too big for a Romanesque baptismal font. Local historians however think the heads are the remains of the oldest font. I would tend to agree with Ghislain." [cf. ImagesArea for photographs of these objects]
A communication to BSI from Pol Herman (e-mail of 1 May 2024) notes: "Two heads are integrated in the outer wall of its 12th century Romanesque tower. They are badly battered. Since immemorial times and until 1962 the annual custom was for the first communicants to throw stones at it. As a sign that they renounced the devil and paganism. Therefore, Jean-Claude Ghislain assumes that the heads are Roman, predating Christianisation. Also, the heads seem too big for a Romanesque baptismal font. Local historians however think the heads are the remains of the oldest font. I would tend to agree with Ghislain." [cf. ImagesArea for photographs of these objects]
Credit and Acknowledgements: We are grateful to Pol Herman and to Jean-Claude Ghislain for bringing these objects to our attention and for their help in documenting them
COORDINATES
UTM: 31U 682041 5670285
Latitude & Longitude (Decimal): 51.155014, 5.603181
Latitude & Longitude (DMS): 51° 9′ 18.05″ N, 5° 36′ 11.45″ E
MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS
Material: stone
Font Shape: fragment