Baptismal font at St Bartholomew's Church, Liège

The Liège font was commissioned after 1107 and completed by 1118 for the Church of Our Lady with the Font ({{langx|fr|Église Notre-Dame-des-Fonts|link=no}}), which abutted the old Liège Cathedral and functioned as the baptistry for the city.Beckwith, 178. See Xhayet and Halleux, 123, note 17 for a fuller account of the status of the church and its priest. These dates are based on the period of office of the Abbé Hellin, parish priest of the church, known to have commissioned it, for in his obituary in the contemporary {{lang|la|Chronicon Rythmicum Leodiense}} ({{langx|en|Liège Rhyming Chronicle}}) the font is clearly described, though with no mention of the artist.Xhayet and Halleux, 21 (quotes chronicle) and 122–123 Both cathedral and church were destroyed during the French Revolution, and the font was hidden for safe-keeping before being moved to its present location in 1804. The Liège chronicle describes a cover with figures of the Four Evangelists and prophets, presumably also in metal, which was lost during the Revolution, along with two of the supporting oxen.Xhayet and Halleux, 21 and 123 and Liège City Tourism The present stone plinth and setting replaced in the 20th century a solid round stone one built in 1804.{{citation|first=Henry|last=Rousseaux|title=Bulletin des Musées Royaux d'arts décoratifs et industriels|chapter=Les fonts baptismaux de Saint Barthélémy à Liège|language=fr| chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/bulletin06musuoft#page/58/mode/2up/search/barthel|year=1907|pages=58–60|publisher=Bruxelles}}See old photos on Commons The font is still used for baptisms today; there is normally a small charge for viewing it.Liège City Tourism

File:Renier de Huy MCL3.jpg baptising the two neophytes.]]

The font was traditionally attributed to Renier de Huy, a 12th-century metalworker and sculptor, but this, and even the Mosan origin of the font, have been questioned and alternative theories advanced. Nothing is known of Rainer's life other than that he was mentioned in a document of 1125 as a goldsmith,Beckwith, 178 but a 14th-century chronicle mentions him as the artist of the font.Oxford He may have died about 1150.Beckwith, 178. The Getty Union Artist Names List has him active until 1144 [http://www.getty.edu/vow/ULANFullDisplay?find=Rainer+of+Huy&role=&nation=&prev_page=1&subjectid=500081355] Another equally shadowy figure in Mosan metalwork from the next generation, Godefroid de Huy or de Claire, also came from the small but prosperous city of Huy on the Meuse.

The only other work generally agreed to be by the same master as the font is a small bronze crucifix (Schnütgen Museum, Cologne);Lasko, 181 another in Brussels has many similarities.Illustrated in Xhayet and Halleux, before p. 129 A censer in similar style is attributed to Renier or a follower by many.Lasko

The figures on the font are in very high relief, and have a remarkable classicism of style; so much so that it has also been suggested that it was in fact made in Constantinople,Oxford or by Greeks in Rome about 1000. Other explanations attribute the classicism to close Byzantine influence,Henderson (1967), 46, Gombrich and others though as Honour and Fleming point out, "In bodily proportions, poses, gestures and garments, they recall Classical models far beyond Byzantine, Carolingian, or even Early Christian art"; they suggest the artist might have seen ancient Greek sculptures in Constantinople when on the First Crusade.Honour & Fleming, 288 [https://books.google.com/books?id=qGb4pyoseH4C&dq=Rainer+of+Huy&pg=PT385 online text]. See also Beckwith, 178–179 Other writers explain the style as emerging from older Mosan and Carolingian traditions, with recent Byzantine influence, and prefiguring Gothic figure style.Beckwith, 178–179, Henderson (1967), 46–48 The idealized figures are modelled in rounded forms; several nude figures are present, and one is seen from behind in a three-quarters view, a sophisticated classical pose.

Art-historical argument over the origin of the font has been vigorous and sometimes acrimonious, and in recent decades mostly conducted in French.Xhayet and Halleux, 117, 199 In support of the Byzantine origin theory, analysis of the lead in 1993 has shown that it came from mines in Spain or Sardinia, whereas other Mosan works used locally sourced metal.Xhayet and Halleux, 101–103; see also note 19 on p. 124, and Liège City Tourism Pierre Colman and his wife Berthe Lhoist-Colman have developed a "Roman" theory, according to which the Holy Roman Emperor Otto III commissioned the font from Greek craftsmen in Rome in about 1000, as a gift for the Basilica of Saint John Lateran there.Colman and Lhoist-Colman, 2003. Decades later it was carried off by Henry IV or Henry V to the Meuse.Xhayet and Halleux, 99–101, who do not accept this theory. However most art historians continue to accept the traditional Mosan attribution, and relate the style to the other works mentioned above.

File:00 Fonts batismaux - Renier de Huy.JPG preaching, the start of the sequence of scenes]]

File:Renier de Huy JPG01.jpg

The basin is {{convert|91|cm|in}} across at the top, tapering slightly towards the base, and is variously described as of brass or bronze.The two terms for copper alloys have some overlap. It was made by lost wax casting, with the basin cast in a single piece; the size was not necessarily exceptional, as both church bells and cauldrons for large households were probably cast at comparable sizes; some church doors cast in a single piece, though flat, were much larger. The font sat on twelve oxen (two are now missing), who emerged from a stone plinth, a reference to the "molten sea... on twelve oxen" cast in bronze for Solomon's temple{{bibleverse|1|Kings|7:23-7:27|NIV}}; this feature is today typical of fonts in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The five scenes shown, identified by Latin inscriptions ("tituli") on the rim above and in the image field, can be read in chronological sequence:See the continuous diagram at Xhayet and Halleux, 124; the scenes are covered in great detail in the pages following; also Calkins, 128{{cite web

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}} (in French)

• John the Baptist preaching to four figures, the last on the right in full military gear; followed by a fig tree.Xhayet and Halleux, 124-6
• John baptising two neophytes, with two further figures to the right, who probably represent the two disciples John told to follow Jesus (John 1:35–37). As often in Early Medieval art, the attempt to convey the River Jordan stretching away in perspective has it rise up like a mound. A palm tree follows.Xhayet and Halleux, 126-9
• The Baptism of Christ by John the Baptist, a commonly represented scene, again with the water piling up like a mound. Jesus is beardless and young, as is also typical. The angel to the right of Jesus has his hands veiled with a cloth, a mark of respect in Eastern liturgy, though it may also simply represent a cloth ready for Jesus to dry himself with. An olive tree follows.Xhayet and Halleux, 129–131
• Saint Peter baptising Cornelius the Centurion, the first gentile to be baptised (Acts 10), with a sponsor or godfather. The Hand of God appears from above to signal approval.Xhayet and Halleux, 131-32
• Saint John the Evangelist baptising the "philosopher Craton", also with a sponsor and Hand. A vine follows. The story of Craton comes from apocryphal writings such as the account of John's life by the Pseudo-Abdias.Cartlidge and Elliott, 195; for a full account in French see Xhayet and Halleux, 199ff, and 132-33.

File:Fonts baptismaux.jpg also inspired by Rupert de Deutz]]

Except for the last two the scenes are separated by trees which are stylised in typical Romanesque fashion, but whose leaf shapes are all different.See the comparison at Xhayet and Halleux, 127, where each is identified as respectively fig, vine, olive and palm. A continuous undulating ground-line runs all round the basin. Other inscriptions run round the top and bottom rims of the basin.Xhayet and Halleux, 94–98 give the texts. These are a number of hexameters of Leonine verse, the upper ones explaining the relief scenes while the lower one explains the oxen: "By the twelve oxen is shown the forma [type] of pastors, through the example of whose apostolic life, full of grace, and their elevated office, the citizens are purified, and the spirit of these waters refreshes the holy city" (approximate translation) While the baptism of Jesus is very commonly depicted in Early Medieval art, those of the other figures are very rare subjects indeed,St Peter baptising an unspecified figure is shown on an ivory book cover of c. 900 in Florence, in a similar composition which also has a layperson to the right of the font, holding textiles (the naked catchumen's clothes, or a towel) which veil his hands in a similar way to the angel in the Baptism of Jesus scene here. Lasko, plate 63 and this unusually elaborate and learned programme was no doubt composed with clerical assistance. It does not reflect Byzantine iconographic precedents; instead it matches closely the interest in typology and allegory, of which the influential contemporary Liège-born theologian Rupert of Deutz was a particular exponent (though Rupert was also a particular opponent of the bishop at the time, Otbert of Liège, who took the Emperor's side in the Investiture Controversy).Xhayet and Halleux, 133, and 122 on their dispute. See also Henderson (1977), 229 The head of God the Father that appears at the top of the Baptism of Christ (identified as PATER) is an early appearance of God the Father in Western art; a Hand of God, more typical of the period, appears in the baptism scenes of Cornelius and Craton.

The baptismal font in the little village of Furnaux (Mettet), relatively far from Liège but at that time in the same diocese, has the same theological background linking Rupert de Deutz's theological vision where the Old Testament and New Testament are closely linked.

{{reflist|2}}

{{Commons category|Baptismal font of Renier de Huy, Liège}}

• Beckwith, John. Early Medieval Art: Carolingian, Ottonian, Romanesque, Thames & Hudson, 1964 (rev. 1969), {{ISBN|0-500-20019-X}}
• Calkins, Robert G.; Monuments of Medieval Art, Dutton, 1979, {{ISBN|0-525-47561-3}}
• Cartlidge, David R. and Elliott, James Keith, Art and the Christian Apocrypha, Routledge, 2001, {{ISBN|0-415-23392-5}}, {{ISBN|978-0-415-23392-7}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=o0LBvOMYArYC&dq=John+baptising+the+philosopher+Craton&pg=PA195 Google books]
• {{citation|last1=Colman |first1=Pierre |last2=Lhoist-Colman|first2=Berthe |title=Les fonts baptismaux de Saint-Barthélemy à Liège - Chef-d'oeuvre sans pareil et noeud de controverses|publisher=Académie Royale de Belgique|year=2003|isbn=2-8031-0189-0|language=fr}}
• Henderson, George. Gothic Art, 1967, Penguin, {{ISBN|0-14-020806-2}}
• Henderson, George. Early Medieval Art, 1972, rev. 1977, Penguin.
• Hugh Honour and John Fleming, A World History of Art, 1st edn. 1982 & later editions, Macmillan, London, page refs to 1984 Macmillan 1st edn. paperback. {{ISBN|0-333-37185-2}}
• Kleiner, Fred S., Christin J. Mamiya, and Helen Gardner. Gardner's Art Through the Ages. Belmont: Wadsworth, 2004
• Lasko, Peter, Ars Sacra, Penguin History of Art (now Yale)
• {{Cite journal|last1=Martinot|first1=L.|last2=Tricherini|first2=P.|last3=Guillaume|first3=J.|year=1997|title=Le rôle des méthodes de laboratoire dans la recherche de la provenance de dinanderies médiévales. Application aux fonts baptismaux de Tirlemont, aux chandeliers des abbayes de Postel et de Parc des Musées Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire de Bruxelles et aux fonts baptismaux de Saint-Barthélemy à Liège|journal=Académie Royale de Belgique. Bulletin de la Classe des Beaux-Arts|language=fr|volume=8|pages=19–36}}
• [https://archive.today/20020221131529/http://www.liege.be/visitelg/tourisme/patrirel/anglais/baptfont.htm#e City of Liège Tourism, with good feature], and a bibliography of recent scholarship in French. Accessed 10 Jan. 2010
• "Oxford": Rainer of Huy: The Oxford Dictionary of Art. Accessed 10 Jan. 2010, [http://www.enotes.com/oxford-art-encyclopedia/rainer-huy]
• Swarzenski, Hanns. Monuments of Romanesque Art; The Art of Church Treasures in North-Western Europe, Faber and Faber, 1974, {{ISBN|0-571-10588-2}}
• Xhayet, Geneviève and Halleux, Robert (eds), Études sur les fonts baptismaux de Saint-Barthélémy à Liège, Editions du CEFAL, 2006, {{ISBN|2-87130-212-X}}, 9782871302124 [https://books.google.com/books?id=FBM-v_6uzpwC&dq=Pierre+Colman%2C+Les+fonts+baptismaux+de+Saint-Barth%C3%A9lemy&pg=PA99 google books]

• {{cite web|url=http://www.kikirpa.be/www2/cgi-bin/wwwopac.exe?DATABASE=fotos2&LANGUAGE=0©TEXT=©RIGHT=&OPAC_URL=&10060034=on|title=Detailed picture gallery of Baptismal font at St Bartholomew's Church of Liège|access-date=2010-01-20|publisher=Royal Institute for the Study and Conservation of Belgium's Artistic Heritage|work=Picture Library}}{{Dead link|date=February 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} (in French)
• {{cite web| url= http://www.st-barthelemy.be/Galerie_FB/Gal_Tof.htm| title= Picture gallery of Baptismal font at St Bartholomew's Church (official website)| access-date= 2010-01-20| publisher= ASBL "Art et Histoire - Saint-Barthélemy - Liège"| work= Picture Library| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100113133432/http://www.st-barthelemy.be/Galerie_FB/Gal_Tof.htm| archive-date= 2010-01-13| url-status= dead}} (in French)

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Category:1118 works

Category:Baptismal fonts

Category:Bronze sculptures in Belgium

Saint-Barthélemy

Category:History of Liège

Category:Medieval European sculptures

Category:Mosan art

Category:Culture of Wallonia

Category:Medieval European metalwork objects

Category:Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor

Category:Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor