PT Journal
AU Lavicka, R
TI Medieval Stone Baptismal Fonts from the 14th-16th Centuries in South and Southwest Bohemia. Typology, Shapes, Decoration
SO Pruzkumy pamatek
PY 2023
BP 3
EP 74
VL 30
IS 1
DI 10.56112/pp.2023.1.01
WP https://pruzkumypamatek.cz/en/artkey/prp-202301-0002.php
DE baptismal font - shapes - typology - heraldry - donors - armorial decoration - Middle Ages - South Bohemia
SN 12121487
AB The study of the medieval stone baptismal fonts in South and Southwest Bohemia is based on long-term research and the documentation of more than a hundred of specimens that have survived with various degrees of completeness. The study aims to clarify the reasons behind the final form of the baptismal font and its influence affected by liturgical requirements and the possible provision of baptismal water. The author deals with the background of the markedly large number of baptismal fonts produced in the late 14th and early 15th centuries, their destiny during the Hussite Wars, and the creation of new ones towards the close of the Middle Ages. The study also deals with the future use of the baptismal fonts after their removal from the church as well as the superstitious use of baptismal water in folk magic. The text provides information about the material, decoration, and lost surface treatment. Based on the shape, the collection of baptismal fonts can be divided into several related groups and, in some cases, even define the source that influenced the fonts' form, or rather decoration. Furthermore, the study discusses the importance of emblems with heraldic figures, generally regarded as the noble coats of arms. Nevertheless, each of them has a general Marian and Christological content with emphasis placed on the importance of baptism. In several cases, the donor was identified which concretised the assumed time of the specimens' origin.
ER