Face sculpted on 11th century baptismal font of blue-black Tournai limestone. In the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Laon, Aisne, Hauts-de-France, France. Laon Cathedral dates from the 12th to 13th centuries, but the font probably survives from an earlier Romanesque cathedral on the same site that was largely destroyed by fire during an Easter Insurrection of 25 April 1112.
Laon, Aisne, Hauts-de-France, France: scholars have long believed that four enigmatic faces protruding from the sculpted circular bowl of the 11th century baptismal font of blue-black Tournai limestone in the South Transept of the 12th to 13th century Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Laon may depict the Four Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Alternatively, the faces may represent the four rivers of the Garden of Eden or Paradise listed in the Hebrew Bible / Old Testament Book of Genesis: the Pishon, Gihon, Chidekel or Tigris and Phirat or Euphrates. However, modern scholarly opinion disputes earlier assertions that the structure should be included in lists of Tournai fonts actually made in and around the Belgian town in the 12th and 13th centuries, examples of which survive in northern France, Belgium, Germany and England. Experts believe that although the Laon font is broadly similar in style to those made at Tournai, it should more accurately be described as in the Mosan artistic tradition: the sculptural style and tradition of a larger Meuse valley area stretching through the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. The Laon font probably survives from an earlier Romanesque cathedral on the site that was largely destroyed by fire during the Easter Insurrection of 25 April 1112.
Size: 2592px × 3872px
Location: Laon, Aisne, Hauts-de-France, France.
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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