Tournai fonts are a type of baptismal font made from blue black limestone during the 12th and early 13th centuries in and around the Belgian town of Tournai by local masons.[1] There are seven complete examples in England[2] and a disputed number in Europe: eighty according to one source,[3] or fifty in Northern France and Belgium and two in Germany according to another.[4]
A sculptural tradition, centred around Tournai, arose in the Scheldt valley from the 11th century onwards.[5] This was characterised by its use of low relief (which was a useful feature when a sculpture was transported),[6] hard lines and the depiction of minute detail, these features arising from the hardness of the material used from the 12th century; Tournai marble.[5] As a sculptural style it is distinguished from the contemporary style of Mosan art, and it was used in sculpture in both Ghent and Bruges.[5] The designation "Tournai font" is employed to identify fonts made by local masons who worked the stone, as opposed to at least two other schools of masons who also sculpted the stone.[1]
- ^ a b Drake 1999, p. 11.
- ^ Harris 2006, p. 439.
- ^ CRSBI. St Peter, Ipswich.
- ^ Wadsworth.
- ^ a b c Hourihane 2012, p. 287.
- ^ Schwartzbaum 1981, p. 90.