Introduction

In the 12th century, when this vat was created, as today, baptism was a rite of initiation practised mainly on children. This rite consisted of pouring water over the person's forehead, known as baptism by effusion. The purpose of this action is to cleanse the newly baptised person of all his or her sins and thus enable him or her to enter Paradise and eternal life.

The work of evangelisation carried out by Saints Walbert and Bertille, particularly on the young children of Cousolre, led to the need to create baptismal fonts like the one pictured here. As this font was intended for the baptism of children, it has medium-sized dimensions, with a height of 48 centimetres, a width of 88 centimetres and a diameter of 66.5 centimetres, with a depth of 35 centimetres. The square bowl has two sides decorated with colonnades and two sides depicting scenes. The spandrels of the upper side are decorated and the lower side is decorated with leaf-shaped claws. The shape of the base of the basin indicates that it was placed on a column so as to be at eye level.