This scratched and pitted face, staring with three others from the sculpted circular bowl of the thousand-year-old baptismal font of blue-black Tournai limestone in the early Gothic Cathedrale Notre-Dame at Laon, Aisne, Hauts-de-France, France, may depict one of the four Evangelists - or alternatively, represent one of the four rivers of the Garden of Eden or Paradise.
Laon, Aisne, Hauts-de-France, France: this enigmatic face, protruding with three others from the circular bowl of the 1,000-year-old baptismal font in the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Laon, may represent one of the Evangelists - or alternatively, one of the four rivers of the Garden of Eden. Experts had long believed that each face, sculpted in primitive but powerful style, depicted the saints Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, to whom the New Testament Gospels were attributed. However, some now think that they represent the rivers of Eden or Paradise listed in the Old Testament Book of Genesis: the Pishon, Gihon, Chidekel / Tigris and Phirat / Euphrates. Opinion has also divided on whether the 11th century font, carved from blue-black Tournai limestone, should be included in lists of Tournai fonts actually made in and around the Belgian town, examples of which survive in France, Belgium, Germany and England. Although the font, in the south transept, is similar to those made at Tournai, it perhaps belongs more to a wider artistic tradition known as Mosan: the style found in a larger Meuse valley area stretching through the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. The Laon font probably survives from an earlier Romanesque church on the hilltop site that was largely destroyed by fire in 1112. Laon Cathedral, built between 1150 and 1230, is contemporary with Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris and is one of the most important and stylistically unified examples of early Gothic architecture. Laon lost its status as a bishopric during the 1789 French Revolution, but although the building has only held the status of a parish church since 1802, it is still universally known as Laon Cathedral.
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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